Strike Witches Assault
by Jakers-Reviews
Summary: A retelling of Strike Witches set in an alternate universe. Anything can change, and things will change. Co-writter is Hayane. This is the second uploading of this story. Reviews are welcome.
1. Chapter 1: The Magic Girl

**Jakers, here with a re-upload of my first Fan Fiction! I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place: Clarify some changes. First of all, here's the characters ages, as most of them have been aged up:**

 **Yoshika (16)**

 **Lynette (17)**

 **Sakamoto (20)**

 **(New Guy) (19)**

 **Minna (20)**

 **Charlotte/Shirley (19)**

 **Perrine (16)**

 **Francesca (16)**

 **Laura (17)**

 **Gertrud (18)**

 **Erica (18)**

 **Sanya (16)**

 **Elia (16)**

 **Secondly, the magic works a bit differently from the canon.**

 **And thirdly, this takes place in it's own separate universe from the original. These two things will be explained as the series goes on.**

 **EDIT: Thank you Empty Promise for this correction. 501st Division will be changed back to Join Fighter Wing now.**

 **Chapter 1: The Magic Girl**

A girl with brown hair and matching brown eyes walks down a hallway to turn in her report. "I think they'll be happy to read this." She said, going over every page. "Okay, okay, titles are right. Text is professional. Everything is in proper order. Everyone on my team turned in their proportion. Seems to be just fine. With any luck, she'll be fine with me being late." The brown-haired girl walked to the tall young women at the end of the hall. sitting behind a desk.

"Hello." The red-haired, red-eyed woman in front of her.

"Commanding Officer Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke!" The brown haired girl said, immediately saluting to attention.

"Always have to be proper, don't you? I've told you countless times call me Minna." Minna said to the girl. "So, I assume you're here to turn in your latest report?" Minna said.

"Yes, Officer Minna." She turned in the paper to Minna. "I'm terribly sorry for being late. I know it's unacceptable but I-"

"Gertrud, calm down. You're the only one keeping yourself on a schedule." Minna turned to smile at the squad leader. "You also turn in more reports than either Sakamoto or Shirley ever do, so if anything you deserve to be late every now and then."

Gertrud gave herself a weak smile, just allowing herself to be complimented for a change. "O..okay."

She then stood up, took Gertrud's paper, and placed it into the proper tray for later.

"I almost forgot - I've been meaning to ask Sakamoto something, but I haven't seen her for quite awhile. Do you know where she is?"

"Didn't you hear? She was on the ship leaving for Fuso the other day. Now that I think about it, she should be arriving there in a few more days, now that I think of it."

Gertrud had a look of shock and some level of confusion. "The Akagi? She was on that? Who else?"

"She went alone, witch-wise that is - a longtime friend of hers is with her. They're going to Fuso to look for a particular witch."

"Great…" Gertrud said, turning around and leaving the room, saying "another rookie. You would think Sakamoto would finish training Lynette before going out to try and find another one."

Upon shutting the door, Minna merely sighed to herself, remembering it's just Gertruds "hard truth" mentality. "Well, she's still more fitting to lead than Laura was." She then sat back down, opened a newspaper, and began reading.

 _ **A few days later**_

A girl with brown hair with matching brown eyes walks down a hallway, observing her end of semester report. Upon opening it up, the girl's eyes merely came to acceptance of averageness that was to be expected from the report - she really shouldn't of expected much more. And thus the girl sighed once more and proceeded to wander outside of the school. With the school day and year being done, it's not like there's any reason to stick around.

"Hey, Miya!" Our brown haired girl, Yoshika Miyafuji, turned her head to see her friendly cousin, Michiko Yamakawa. "How did you do this semester?"

"Micchan, hello." Yoshika said, waving to the blue-haired school girl. "Well, average as usual. Just general Marks, a few Above Average Marks, and one Below Average one."

"Ah, well, I didn't do much better." The two reports changed hands as the two girls compared their marks as they made their way home. "Hey, Miya, is it okay if I come over for a bit? My family's working over time, and I don't want to-"

"Sure, Micchan. I don't mind!"

As if on cue, a neighborhood farmer (likely in his late fifties) came up on his horse-powered wagon. "Well, if it isn't Yoshika and Michiko. Schools out for the year, right?"

"That's right, Miyamoto." Yoshika replied before realizing something. "Huh… If it's not too much trouble, can we have a ride back home?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, hop on." The two girls hopped onto the waggon, with it lacking any produce. "Say now, I'm 'a bit curious - how do you normally get home?"

"Well, I usually just tough out the walk…" Yoshika awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, smiling. "I guess I'm just lazy today."

"Ah, no worries. We all get tired, so I don't mind." Miyamoto and Yoshika both threw conversation piece after conversation piece to each other, with Michiko sitting back and relaxing about the upcoming summer break.

As they went on their trip, they left the town area and entered the hilly countryside, where Yoshika and Micchan both lived. Michiko started to show some concern as they reached Tips Pass, a rather steep five and a half foot drop. "Sorry, Yoshika, but I need to focus now."

"I understand." She said, turning her attention to Michiko; her uneasiness not going unnoticed.

"Don't worry, miss, I know his road like the back of my hand." Before Miyamoto could turn around, however, a sudden red explosion could be seen, and more importantly heard from the sky. The noise sent the horses into a frenzy, causing them to jump up, causing the back wagon to get un-hooked, and tip over onto the hill - causing it to fall as it tumbled down the hillside.

Miya was able to get out with minor scrapes and bruises, but a check on Michiko turned up less fortunate news. She had a piece of wood jabbed into her chest. _Oh crap!_ Yoshika mentally yelled as she ran for Michiko. Thankfully, it wasn't through her heart. _Still, I need to do something…_ She removed the wood, and then placed her hand over her chest. _Come on, Michiko, stay with me._

Her hands began to glow, and the blood slowed down a little bit, but it won't stop. _I'm… still not good enough at this._

"Miya-chan…" Miya looked over at her head to see her eye, barely, open. "Don't waste… your magic on me…"

"DON'T BE CRAZY! I'LL… I'LL SAVE YOU!"

"Miya, please…" Michiko lost consciousness.

"YOU'RE NOT GONNA DIE! I WON'T LET YOU!"

"Miyafuji! Stop!" She looked up to see Miyamoto at the top. He had a strange look on his face, one of a mixture of fear and sadness. "I have the horses under control. I can see from here you've slowed down the bleeding." Yoshika looked up, not sure how to react. "If we hurry, we can get to your house where your mother can finish up."

Running out of options, Miya picked up her friend - somehow, and carried her out the hill and placed her into the cart. _Impressive, I wouldn't of guessed Miyafuji to be that strong._

"Miyamoto…" _Why… is my vision fading._ "Will Michiko be okay?" ***Thud***

Yoshika woke up back at her house. "Oh, good to have you awake." Her grandmother, Akimoto, smiled at her drowsy granddaughter. "Don't worry, Michiko will be fine. I've managed to stop the bleeding." She turned her attention back to Michiko, focusing her magic into healing her.

"How did I get here?"

"Well, Yoshika, I came by to check on the explosion outside, and when I saw Miyamoto getting his horses under control…

 _ **Flashback**_

"Hey, Miyamoto!" he didn't turn around. "It's me, Sayaka!"

THAT got his attention. "Sayaka! No time, follow me."

" _So I did. I tried to, at least. For a man his age and his stature, he's a fine runner. By the time I got there, you were already out cold."_

"Look, Michiko is in need of medical aid, and your daughter just passed out bringing her up the pass. I'll take Michiko if you can handle your daughter."

 _ **-End of Flashback-**_

"I don't know how, but he knew what was going through my head." Miya looked over at her friend.

"Micchan - I'm sorry." She managed to whisper out.

"Honey, don't worry. She'll be okay. Your grandmother is as good with magic as anyone could be around here."

"Well, that's a relief." Yoshika smiled, glad she could breathe easy once more.

"Anyway, I'm impressed you managed to get her up that steep climb. How did you do that."

"Well, to be honest... I don't really know. I just knew what I needed to do, and I just... well…" Yoshika was starting to realize this wasn't a very good answer. "I just did it." Yoshika blushed a little bit at that, with her mother patting her on the head.

"Well, I'm proud of you either way." With having cleared that up, and with her daughter calming down Sayaka asked Yoshika something that's been on her mind for a while. "By the way, did you get your Report back today?" Yoshika's grades became the focus of the next hour or so of talking.

Meanwhile, in a nearby bush, a man in a jeep removed the binoculars from his eyes, with a woman wearing an eye-patch behind him. "Are you sure this is the place, commander?"

"Yep." She casually said. "The girl matched the image perfectly. What information do you have on her?"

The soldier pulled a file out of the glove compartment of the jeep. "Her grades and athletic performance are only average, her only standout skill shown seems to be cooking." He looked away from the file, and back at the commander. "Should we go in and ask?" The lady then got up, and removed her eye patch.

"No," The woman pulled up her eye-patch, revealing there was a purple eye under it. "I see they're tending to someone injured, possibly from the Neuroi Aircraft we destroyed mid-afternoon today. Let's give her some time." She then got up, closing her patch. "But I've made my decision. I will have Yoshika Miyafuji join Strike Witches!" She then pumped her hand into the air, smiling in her own self confidence.

"Whatever you say, Commander Sakamoto."

 **Thanks for reading! Just as an FYI, most chapters will have a "Character ID Card" at the end of them, giving you some information (most of it being trivial) on a character. There's not any yet since the series just started, and I don't want to give anything away just yet.**

 **Just incase I can't give a character ID Card for the Chapter (Spoiler reasons and such), than I'll give a fact instead. This fact is that the characters are wearing pants in this one! Yoshika and Michiko have standard skirts on, Sakamoto has tight short-shorts, and Yoshika's mother/grandmother are wearing jeans.**


	2. Chapter 2: Do We have a Deal?

**Chapter 2: Do We have a Deal?**

A few hours later, Michiko was able to at least sit up on her own. "Hey, Miya-chan. Did I pass out or AHHH!" Michiko crashed back on the bed, thankfully without losing consciousness.

"Michiko, you need to rest a bit longer, at least for the rest of the day." Sayaka responded

"But, my parents!"

"Don't worry. Our neighbor, Miyamoto, left a note for your parents at their house. They should know you're here." Believing Sayaka, Michiko breathed in a sigh of relief followed by a growl from her stomach.

"Sounds like my friend is hungry!" Yoshika smiled, getting up. Her energized voice didn't match her tired body language, though.

"Hold on, Yoshika. In case you forgot, you're still rather weak on magic right now. You should rest too. I'll cook dinner tonight."

"Mph!" Yoshika's pouty face went full force. "You're no fun, sometimes."

"That's the sign of a great mother, you know." Sayaka smiled back. However, the noise of a vehicle driving up to the house followed the remark - only to stop and be followed by silence…

 ***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

"Now, who could that be?" Sayaka opened the door, finding her answer in the form of a young woman with an eye patch and, oddly enough, hot pants - plus a white Navy button shirt. Behind this woman was what appeared to be a pilot.

"Hello, is this the Miyafuji Health Clinic?"

"Yes… and you might be?" The lady whispered into her ears, all while the other three watched in anticipation. "Oh… oh - well, welcome miss Saka-" Before she finished, two stomachs growled much louder than her own voice. "It seems you and your friend out there are hungry, too. We're about done with dinner - care to join?"

"Thank you." She said. The man behind her, wearing an aviator jacket and pilot helmet, ran in like a young child.

"Bless you." he said, zooming in.

"Uh, you're welcome."

 _ **-30 Minutes Later-**_

"Here we are!" Sayaka placed out all the ramen she made. "Since we have twice as many mouths to feed as usual, I couldn't afford to do anything special - but it should be good none the less! Less dig in!" Nobody wasted time eating. The two guests especially, since they shoved their faces in with as much as they could. "Hungry, huh?"

The girl swallowed, apologizing. "Sorry for being rude, we just haven't eaten in 2 days. It's been crazy trying to find this place, and we've had some accidents on the way here."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you found us when you did." Yoshika innocently added.

"Yeah, it is." The man said, swallowing the last of his bowl. "Oh, Commander!"

"Yes?"

"I just realized, we haven't introduced ourselves."

"Oh, you're right!" She then stood up, saluting the room stood up. "I'm Mio Sakamoto, Commanding Officer in the 501st Strike Witches Joint Fighter Wing: Elite Witches!"

"I'm Kyle Yeaser, Liberion Ace Pilot. I'm here as back-up for Sakamoto."

The two sat back down and went back to eating (albeit at a more reasonable rate) as rest of the family introduced themselves, until it became Yoshika's turn where Sakamoto spoke up. "And _you're_ Yoshika Miyafuji, right?"

"Yep." Yoshika said. "But… How do you know me?" Yoshika went back to her ramen so Sakamoto could answer.

"Well, you see, I'm here-"

"Bis is beally burd" Said Kyle, forgetting to swallow his ramen before talking again. (He was trying to say "This is really good").

 _Damn it, Kyle._

"Oh, really?" Sayaka said, smiling. "Thank you."

"Hehehe, you can actually understand him?" Sakamoto asked, jokingly.

"Yeah, Yoshika tends to do the same thing."

"Mut 'bout mh?" Sakamoto and Sayaka started laughing.

 ***Gulp*** "So I'm not the only one doing that?" Laughed Kyle.

Sakamoto thought to herself, just for a second. _Yeah, she'll fit right in._

After finishing everything, the group of six sat down to relax a bit. Akimoto was able to finish healing Michiko, with Yoshika giving her one of her shirts to wear home. "See you later, Miya-chan!"

"Bye, Mich-chan!" Yoshika yelled, smiling and waving to her smiling and waving friend. She closed the door, and turned her attention to Sakamoto. "Sakamoto, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask away."

"Why are you here?" Sakamoto looked over to Sayaka, with Sayaka shaking her head in approval.

"Well, as I said, I'm with Strike Witches, a series government-organized Joint Fighter Wings of witches meant to fight off the Neuroi." Yoshika hand a confused look on her face. "You do know what Strike Witches are, right?" Yoshika nodded her head. "Good. Do you know what a Neuroi is?" Yoshika shook her head side to side. ***sign*** "Well, they're the reason so much of the world is in trouble."

"Okay... but what does all of this have to do with me?"

"The answer just asked the question." Sakamoto said.

"Huh?"

"I think she means she came her for you." Everyone turned to see Michiko, having opened the door without them noticing. "By the way, you forgot to lock the door." She came in, and sat down next to Yoshika. "I came back because I left my semester report - but this is more important."

"She _is_ right, Yoshika; I'm here to recruit you into Strike Witches!" Sakamoto pumped her fist into the air. "The 501st Joint Fighter Wing, to be exact!" Her fist-pump became a thumbs up as she smiled. Everyone seemed captured by their own anticipation of Yoshika's response. "So, are you in?"

"No." Any energy in the room died right there and there as Sakamoto's face went from pure energized excitement to complete and utter defeat.

"Well, that was blunt." Kyle drily added.

"What… What do you mean no?!"

"I mean no, I'm not going with you. I'm planning to take over this clinic, letting my mom and grandmother focus on the farm - and I kind of need to be here to do that!" Yoshika was starting to look a little annoyed when she realized Sakamoto wasn't too happy with her answer.

"So, that's worth more than saving the world?" THAT struck Yoshika to her bone. "I want to point out that Strike Witches, _especially_ our Wing, have dealt with the Neuroi on a worldwide scale. Our job is to stop this horrible invasion before more people die at their hands. We're currently trying to deal with one of the most dangerous Neuroi nests spotted yet!" Sakamoto looked at the now slightly cowering Yoshika, only to stop as she started to have a sense a hopelessness from the situation. Getting up, she headed to the door, saying "I figured the daughter of Ichiro Miyafuji, above all else, would understand this." She then walked outside, leaving the family to her words. Yoshika seemed to of let those words sink in.

"Dad…" Yoshika got up, and picked up her report from school, and then a photo of her dad. "I've… I've done nothing…" A few tears tinkered down her face.

"Oh no!" Sayaka quickly ran up to embrace her tearful daughter, listening to her sob.

" _I've done_ _ **nothing**_ _to make dad proud…_ "

"Don't say that, Yoshika! He'd be proud to call you his daughter no matter what!"

"Y-Yeah!" Michiko wasn't sure if she could help, just just sitting there wasn't going to do Yoshika any favors.

"The nerve of that woman!" Akimoto yelled. She then noticed that Kyle hadn't left the house yet. _What is he still doing here?_ A few minutes passed before anyone did anything.

"Hey, Yoshika?" Kyle said, getting up to talk to Yoshika. "I'm sorry about that - Sakamoto's just a bit high strung, especially right now." Sayaka let go off Yoshika (just as she stopped crying) so she could listen to him - if she wanted to. "That damn woman can be over confident with herself. I bet throughout the entire trip, she didn't even consider what to do if you said no."

"Really?" Yoshika asked, finally calming down.

"Wouldn't put it past her." Kyle joked. Despite Yoshika letting out a small chuckle, she clearly wasn't any happier. "Hey, what's on your mind? You can talk with me."

Yoshika and Kyle sat down on the floor. "When she said 'a Miyafuji should understand,' does that mean she met my father?"

"I wouldn't know. I've heard that name used by a lot of people - especially witches, so he must of been important."

"Which means I'll need to join her to get her to tell me…"

"Hey now, don't speak like that." He scooted a bit closer to her. "How about this: you tell me what concerns you about join Strike Witches, and I'll tell you what I know about working with them. Then you can be at least a little more educated with your choice. Sound nice?" Kyle let himself smile. "Because as someone who has worked with Sakamoto for quite some time, I think you should give this some serious thought."

Yoshika smile and nodded. "I… I don't think I'm capable of being in the military." Kyle smiled back at her.

"That's understandable. But you've also had no training. You'd be given some practice and training. No one expects you to fly on the boat ride back or something." He smiled back. "Hell, it was a good 3 years before I received my recommendation of flight."

"You spent 3 years on before you flew a plane?"

Smirking, he leaned in and whispered "I never said that, now." Yoshika started laughing, causing the family to follow suit. Kyle, however, still had one unanswered question. "If it's not too personal, why do you want to run the clinic instead of joining the Fighter Wing?"

"Well, I want to learn to use my magic, and I want to save lives. I want to help people." Kyle's face got very serious all of the sudden

"I'm not here to romanticize the military, but let me tell you something-" Everyone in the room leaned forward to hear this. "Sakamoto came to get you, because she knew you'd be capable of doing just that." He got up, and walked to the door. "I'm going to talk to Sakamoto about staying a bit longer so you can talk with your family over this." And with that, he walked out.

"Mom?"

"Yoshika, this is your choice - I'm not going to take that away from you."

"I think you should." The usually quiet Michiko surprised the family by being so vocal on the matter. "Miya-chan, you're studying to become a medic, right? Well, this is a chance you may never get again. Strike Witches is a military branch, meaning there's plenty of people for you to help!"

"...Grandma?"

"I… I hate the way she tried to recruit you, but I think this is the best way to get to know your father."

"Sakamoto?"

"Yes Kyle?"

"I.. talked to Yoshika. She just got nervous from the idea of service it seems; understandable for her age."

"Thanks, Kyle." She sat down in the jeep, now right outside of the house. "I _really_ screwed up back there." Sakamoto was mentally beating herself, if her face was anything to go by. "To think, I'm one of the 501st active officers and not once on the way here did I consider that she might say no."

Kyle started to rub the back of his head, much to Sakamoto's confusion. "After talking with her, I'd kind of like to know: who _is_ Yoshika's father? Do you know him?

"Well, I-"

"Sakamoto!" Yoshika ran up to the two, with her family not too far behind. "I-"

Sakamoto put her finger over Yoshika's lips. Her face still showed defeat, but with a hint of acceptance. "Don't worry. I can't force you to join." _I don't have the authority to do so._ "So, if running the clinic is really that important, you-"

"I'm coming with you!" Sakamoto's look of defeat was made lively all over again.

"You are? Really?!" Yoshika nodded up and down. "That's great! Now let's-

"On one condition." Sakamoto, Kyle, along with the family leaned forward to listen. "I want to see my father. And I'm positive you know where he is."

After a moment of suspense, she nodded. "Yeah, I do. And as it just so happens, he owns our current base." Both girls, oddly enough, smirked at each other. "So, we have a deal?"

"Yes, we do." The two shook hands.

Sakamoto smiled. "Well, you better pack up - we're leaving tomorrow!"

 **Thank you for reading Chapter 2 of Strike Witches Assault! Next chapter will be when the ID Cards start appearing. So, here's some facts of this Chapter.**

 **In this version Yoshika hasn't actually encountered any Neuroi at this point. I am aware that she has in the original version of Strike Witches. There** _ **was**_ **a reason for this change… but I don't remember, to be honest.**

 **You might be wondering why the 501st** _ **Joint Fighter Wing**_ **was referred to as the 501st** _ **Division**_ **in the older build, and they're nickname is** _ **Elite Witches**_ **instead of** _ **Strike Witches**_ **. Well, in this version I plan to (eventually) get to every division. Strike Witches refers to the organization instead of the individual JFW. As for why it was just the** _ **Division**_ **and not** _ **Joint Fighter Wing**_ **? Well, it came from reading a typo on my part. I always misread it as "Joint** _ **Flight**_ **Wing" instead, so I figured if they don't always fight in the air I can't call them that any more.** (How the hell did I mistake "Fighter" for "Flight?")


	3. Chapter 3: On Aboard

**Chapter 3: On Aboard**

Before the day was up, Yoshika was taken to the ship that had brought Sakamoto and Kyle to Fuso to begin with. The Aircraft carrier Akagi was to be the group's mode of transport from Fuso to wherever it is that Sakamoto was taking Yoshika to see her father. "So, that ship is what brought you here?"

"Yeah, an amazing ship. The Akagi can go four times fast than any other ship you could find of it's type."

"At full speed." Kyle added. "So, Yoshika, you ready?"

Gulping, as if to keep her confidence within herself, she tightly grasped her luggage. "Yes… I'm ready."

"Okay. Kyle, go and make sure we have enough supplies this time."

Kyle saluted, "Yes ma'am!" And with that, he ran along the coastline to help with supplies.

 _Damn it, Kyle! Ma'am? Commander? Pick a title and stick with you crazy bastard!_ Sakamoto recomposed herself before addressing her new recruit. "So, Yoshika, you've said your goodbyes, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"You're not lying, right?"

"What? No!" Yoshika thought about it for a moment. "Who would lie about that?"

"Well, there's some weird people in this world" Sakamoto sighed whilst shaking her head. "Well, I guess we better board the shi-"

"Miya-chan!" The two witches both looked over to find Michiko running towards them. "I…" ***huff* *huff* *huff*** "I… I need to say something."

"I thought you told me you said your goodbyes?"

"No, I need to ask YOU something, Captain Sakamoto."

"Commander" Yoshika corrected.

"Yoshika, you can head onto the ship, I'll meet you up there." And so, Yoshika ran up to the giant ship. "So, what do you want?"

Michiko looked over to make sure Yoshika wasn't around to see them, before embracing Sakamoto while shedding tears. "PLEASE! PLEASE LOOK AFTER YOSHIKA!" Despite only just starting to speak, her voice already cracked. "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY BEST FRIEND! PLEASE!"

"Don't worry," Sakamoto patted the girl on her head. _I'm not sure who you are… But I know what you mean._ "We Witches, through good and bad, always look out for each other."

"Thank… Thank you!" She started to wipe her tears away.

"By the way, what's your name? I remember seeing you back at Yoshika's house."

"I'm Michiko - Yoshika's cousin." She smiled back. "Just call me Michchan." Sakamoto smiled back at her smiling back, and left to board the ship.

Michiko joined Akimoto and Sayaka within a crowd, all standing there at the docks watching as the Akagi left dock to wherever it was heading. She was able to spot Yoshika on the side. "BYE, MIYA-CHAN!" waving once again.

Yoshika noticed. "BYE, MICHCHAN! I'LL BE BACK, I PROMISE!"

And with that, the two friends/cousins parted ways, hopefully to see each other once more in the coming future.

About thirty minutes later, the two were rejoined with Kyle. "Okay, Sakamoto, we have enough supplies to make it back to Striker Island, with a week's buffer."

"Rations, right?"

"Mostly. We have some fruit too. Unless we have something to keep them fresh, those get eaten first."

"I'll talk to the Captain about that."

"Striker Island?" Yoshika asked, not caring if she's changing the subject.

"Yeah, it's our current base of operations." Sakamoto would've been happy to go on about the island, but a more pressing matter came to mind. "Uh, Ma'am? Where is Yoshika going to sleep?"

Sakamoto's face went long at his response. "...'

"What?"

"Damn it…I hadn't thought of that!"

 _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_ Yoshika wondered to herself.

"Well, there's a large closet we could clean out for her."

"NO! SHE'S NOT A DOG!"

"WELL, DO YOU HAVE ANY BETTER PLANS?" Kyle was NOT one to "sit there and take;" not with Sakamoto at least.

"Well…" Sakamoto put some serious thought into it; with the sun setting, she didn't have much time. _Okay, think Sakamoto. There's got to be a bed she can fit into… Well, there's always my - nah. That's a terrible idea… or is it?_

"Uh… Sakamoto?" Kyle and Yoshika asked at the same time, both concerned at this point.

"Okay, I know. She'll share my bed." Yoshika's jaw hit the floor, with Kyle making sure he heard that right.

"WHAT! IS… IS THERE REALLY NO OTHER OPTION?"

"Not likely, Yoshika." Kyle shook his head. "If there's one thing I've learned on these trips, Sakamoto doesn't beat around the bush - what she says basically goes around here." He then thought back to earlier today. "Then again, I could say the same for you, it seems. _Hehehe…_ So maybe you two were made for each other!"

Sakamoto wanted to try and help the blushing Yoshika. "Come on, Yoshika, it won't be that bad."

"Yeah!" Kyle joked. "It'll only be mildly awful!"

"Kyle" he turned around and saw a murderous aura coming off of his superior "Do you want to become a stain on my blade?" she says grabbing the hilt of her sword.

"No…" He said, sounding more sad than scared. "But look, she's at your side, now."

Sakamoto looked down to find that to be true.

 _This is going to become a serious problem isn't it?_ She said to herself. "So, is sharing a bed okay?"

"Well… You're better than being in a closet."

"Thanks." Sakamoto dryly replied.

As things started to get weird, the tannoy burst into life with a message from the Captain stating that it was now

time for dinner. _Thank goodness_ they all thought.

All of the crew arrived in the mess hall, with only the vital crew members taking their food with them to continue working at their posts. Despite the fact that our three have already eaten, they were still excited to have some food. Besides, all of them - even Yoshika knew that you never waste a meal at sea.

It had only been a few minutes after the group had settled down to start eating when a voice called out to Sakamoto, "So this is where you've been hiding" Sakamoto turns around to see where the voice had came from.

"Ah… Captain Tanaka, I wasn't really hiding I was dealing with an unexpected problem that cropped up so I couldn't find the time to see you."

"It's alright-" He says chuckling to himself "Mind if I sit here?" he says gesturing to the open seat next to Sakamoto.

"Go right ahead" She replied as she turned back round to continue eating.

As this was going Kyle got distracted by a waving hand from around the galley door, he quickly excused himself from the room and as soon as he does he gets jumped…. "Well well, well look what the cat dragged in." Kyle recognised the voice as soon he heard it.

"Mikey old boy is that you" he snickered

"Hey I'm not old and it's Mike, not Mikey; I keep telling you that!" He retorted by hitting Kyle over the head with a Dinner tray.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Kyle replied rubbing his head, he was about to say something but he saw Mike peeking around the door staring at Yoshika & Sakamoto.

"I've been in service for 21 missions. I've worked with every country in the world at least once. I've taken out countless Neuroi Ground Units. But this little girl - still dressed for a day of Fuso High School outranks me on _principle_ _alone!_ "

"Some things never change, do they?" Kyle smirked.

"But just you wait, I'll surpass them someday, mark my words!"

"Yeah, if you can stop being such a klutz first." Kyle teased causing Mike to hit him with the tray again.

Yoshika had been feeling weird for awhile now it felt as if she was being watched by someone; she looked around a few times trying to figure out who was staring at her and this caught the attention of Sakamoto.

"Miyafuji you okay?" She says startling the poor girl causing her to jump

"I-I'm fine" she responded calming herself down in the process

"R-Right" she paused wondering how to continue when a bulb went off in her head "Ah that's right I do believe that the two of you haven't been introduced to each other yet have you"

Yoshika cocks her head in confusing and looks at the person sitting next to Sakamoto getting up and then standing in front of her after she had turned around.

"Well let's fix that problem right away" He says extending his hand "My name is Yanagi Tanaka, Captain of this fine vessel the Akagi, It's a pleasure to meet you Miyafuji Yoshika!" He finished with a smile.

Yoshika shooks hands with the captain, to which he sat back down in his seat and the three of them started to chat with one another, stopping at one point to refill their trays with more food which lead them all to become stuffed. After that they all split up to go to their quarters with Sakamoto fuming at the fact that Kyle had disappeared somewhere, "Where'd that crazy bastard run off to?" _And why didn't he tell me where he going?!_.Sakamoto eventually let it go, and the three went back to their dinner.

 **Later that Night**

 _Dinner was fantastic!_ And no one would debate that. In fact it was so good Yoshika forgot the fact she was sharing of Sakamoto's bed.

"Yoshika… are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's you or the closet." Without any more fuss made about it, the two witches managed to get themselves into the bed _clearly_ made for one witch. While the bed was _just_ spacious enough for both of them to fit on it, it doesn't change the feeling of awkwardness that never seemed to lift. The fact that her head was laying against her chest wasn't making things any easier. _Although her breasts make good pillows…_ "So, Sakamoto?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you let me sleep here?"

The one-eyed witch merely smiled. "Well, I thought you'd feel safer in my presence."

Yoshika blushed heavily. "Well… you're not wrong."

Sakamoto, sharing in the embarrassment, merely said "Okay, now let's get to sleep - I can tell you that we have a big day tomorrow."

 _I… Probably could have guessed that._ With knowledge of what the next day holds, the two witches eventually drifted off to sleep, and much to Yoshika's surprise, sleeping next to Sakamoto was… surprisingly natural.

It wasn't just the next day that was a big day. Over the course of the _next few days_ , Yoshika would wake up to a routine: cleaning, cooking, cleaning, inventory check, cleaning, moving objects across the ship, cleaning, seeing what Kyle was up to, cooking some more, and cleaning. _Man… they REALLY make you earn your nights rest around here…_

It actually got to the point where she looked _**forward**_ to her nights with Sakamoto; they were at least peaceful, and Sakamoto didn't make her work her ass off… at night. _When the sun's out, she works me harder than anyone else, besides that Mike guy - but the Captain said I don't have to listen to him. However at night, she's one of the sweetest people I've ever met._ _It's amazing… she's like two completely different people working shifts in one body._ Yoshika then got thinking of their nights. _For some reason, she doesn't mind me using her… pillows. Maybe she just doesn't vocalize it. Yeah… it's gotta be that._

At the evening of Day 6, after having finished everything in her weekly routine she sat on the bow of the ship to enjoy the sunset. _Wow… I've never imagined it looking so beautiful. I've seen a sunset more than once… but the golden ocean meeting the sun with nothing in between makes it all the more-_

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yoshika turned around.

"Sakamoto!" The witch she correctly identified walking up to her with a light grin. "L-Look, I was just-"

"Enjoying yourself, I see." The two sat down, both on the front of the ship. "Well, you've earned it - you've been a hell of a help around the ship."

" _Hehehe…_ I'm just doing my job." A blushing Yoshika retorted. "Hey, Sakamoto? There's something I've been meaning to ask you since I got on this ship."

"Really?" Yoshika merely nodded. "Well, pleases - ask away!"

"Well… how well did you know my father?"

Sakamoto's smile faded to a normal expression as she breathed in, then out. "Well, how about I show you?" The two got up, with a giddy Yoshika following Sakamoto. She took her down to a special room below the runway. In this room were what appeared to be three almost perfectly backpacks.

"What are those?"

"These are the beginning of your father's legacy." She said, causing Yoshika's eyes to light up. "This is the Striker Unit MKI."

Yoshika's starry eyes observed everything about the metallic round backpack. "Can… I hold one?"

 _I was already planning on giving you one._ "Just don't put it on, Yoshika." With the stipulations set, Yoshika did whatever she could to get a feel for it; She notice the near the center of this one, along with almost all of them was a red circle. "You see, the idea your dad had was to make the advanced witches broom - one that could give a witch the ability to fight side-by-side with aircrafts!" Her attention the went directly to the unit. "This little baby was his first step to realizing his vision."

Yoshika had to take a moment to let it all sink in. "My dad made this?"

"Yeah, but his legacy doesn't end there! He was researching a second model that goes on the witch's legs, amplifying magic output!" Sakamoto's face lost a _little_ bit of excitement after that. "Trevor Maloney expects a prototype to be ready in a week or two, if I'm not mistaken"

"Wow…" Yoshika had been dumbfounded. She never knew her father had been doing all of this. _Not that he would of been allowed to tell anyone._ "Hey, what did you mean by my father's 'legacy'"

With a massive inhale, she turned her attention back to Yoshika, "You father's work was a massive break-through. His dream was to use technology and magic together as tools to accomplish the impossible. And the Striker Unit is the result of that dream."

Yoshika placed the Unit back on the rack with the other two before she had a chance to break it. "Man, my dad's pretty amazing then, huh?"

Sakamoto smiled, with a tear running down her face. "You're right, amazing is exactly how I'd describe him." She then lead Yoshika out. "Now let's go to bed. We should be arriving at Striker Island tomorrow."

 **Here's the first Character ID Card**

 **Name** : Kyle Yeaser

 **Nickname** : Crazy Bastard (Coined and used by Sakamoto), Sakamoto's Ace (Coined and used by Various Army Units)

 **Age** : 20

 **Birthplace** : Liberion

 **Affiliation** : U.N. Air Force

 **Status** : Pilot

 **Magic** : _N/A_

 **Weapon(s)** : Various Planes

 **Likes** : Teammates

 **Dislikes** : Helicopters

 **Notes** : Originating from Liberion, Kyle was recruited into the U.N. Air Force by recommendation of Sakamoto after his knowlegde of combating the Neuroi saved an entire flight squad from a surprise attack. The two also formed a... _strange_ friendship. Stranger still is his childhood friend, Michael Dilbert would become a front man for the Liberion Support Army. Compared to his ground-based buddy however, Kyle would spend a lot of time fighting alongside witches against Aircraft-Type Neuroi and gaining a massive amount of respect for witches.


	4. Chapter 4: Invasion from Above

**Chapter 4: Invasion From Above**

Sakamoto jumped out of bed to the sound of an alarm, knocking Yoshika out of bed. "Stay here, I'll go see what's going on." And with that, Sakamoto ran upstairs, leaving a worried Yoshika (and fortunately unharmed) down below.

"Captain Tanaka, what's going on?"

"I think you better see for yourself." He handed her some binoculars.

"All I see are some dark clouds."

"Exactly." He said. "That's ALL you see. No waves. No rain. No signs of wind." Then Sakamoto's head snapped up.

"Damn it!" She threw the binoculars. "Not now!"

"Go suit up, I'll ready the ship." Sakamoto nodded, and headed back down. He grabbed the mic for the ship. "To all crew mates, all signs point to a Neuroi attack! Jim Sterlson, Prepare the turrets. All available pilots, get into an available plane. Sakamoto will guide you."

On her way down, she heard Yoshika crying in the corner of their room. "Yoshika, what's wrong?"

 ***Sob*** "I'm… I'm scared. I'm not sure what the Neuroi are, but… I…" She merely hid her head within her beetle-positioned body. Sakamoto quickly ran up to try and comfort her.

"Look, the Neuroi are why you and I are here." Yoshika looked up. "But you don't need to fight them just yet." She patted Yoshika on the head. "Now, just remain calm. I'll be back." _I wish I could comfort her through this… but this ship_ _ **needs**_ _me right now._ Sakamoto left the room to continue on her way.

Sakamoto, having reached the put on the backpack-like Striker Unit. She pressed a button, causing it to squeeze itself to fit her figure, and wings spanned out of it's sides - making it a jet pack. Picking up a black box, she focused her magic into it - causing it to take the form of a giant cannon. Finally, she took an ear-piece out of her pockets, and placed it into her… well, ear and pressed the on button. "Captain Tanaka, this is Mio Sakamoto, ready for flight."

"I hear you, Sakamoto. I'll activate the elevator to the deck when the planes are ready - Stay in the supply room until then." He picked the mic back up, and said "All pilots have 3 minutes to get ready. Repeat. 3 minutes to deployment."

"Hey, Kyle!" The Liberion pilot turned his head to see a fellow pilot (in his late fifties at least) waving at him. "You can take my plane; Commander Sakamoto will need you up there more than me. Beside, I hear you've fought these thing before."

"Wait!" Kyle looked over that the plane. "Aren't you their captain?"

"Not this time, they need someone more experienced than me - I've never dealt with Neuroi on the expected scale of tonight." He handed him his helmet and goggles. "I'm going to arm up and help the marksmen this time."

"Hang on, you're going to have to pass Sakamoto's room to get to yours, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

Yoshika, while no longer crying, was still nervous about, well, everything. "Hey, miss?" Yoshika looked up, "Are you Yoshika?"

"Yea, why?"

"Here." He handed her some goggles. "This is a gift from Kyle. According to him, these were his first ever set of goggles for flight." Yoshika took the goggles, and put them on

 _Wow… they fit surprisingly well._

"Sorry, but I need to get up to the deck." Yoshika shook her head, and he headed off.

Kyle entered his new plane, and was relieved to find out that it was nothing he hasn't seen before. After closing the cockpit, he buckled up and began to flick two switches on the right side. After the two lights above them lit up, he grabbed the mic. "Listen, this is Kyle Yeaser. By your captain's request, I will be serving as your captain for today fight. First of all, roll call. I need all of you to flip your respondents switch." He saw, soon enough, that all nine other lights in a circle lit up. "Okay. Now, some protocol. Never fly into Neuroi clouds. They CAN and WILL possess the ship with us in them, and we're not having a civil flight wars. Besides, there's already the chance they'll have a ground unit jump on your ship to try and posse it" He gave a moment for questions. "Okay. Now, we are to focus on the Neuroi aircraft. We have other squads s to handle any ground units, as well as anti-aircraft fire support from the rest of the fleet, any questions?." No questions came. "Okay, all Pilots report in!"

"34 standing by."

"35 standing by."

"36 standing by."

"37 standing by."

"38 standing by."

"39 standing by."

"40 standing by."

"Phoenix standing by."

"Blue Eagle standing by"

"Commander Kyle, standing by. All Pilots accounted for." He flicked the two switches down, followed by flicking one on the right. "Captain Tanaka, JFW 546 is ready to fly, waiting for Commander Sakamoto."

"Read you loud and Clear, 546. Getting the rest of the ship ready." Tanaka flicked a switch himself.

Sakamoto, in the supply room, saw one red light turn on.

"Marksmen, are you ready?"

"This is Dan Alf, Yes - Marksmen are prepared for combat."

Sakamoto saw a second light turn on, with both lights now being yellow.

"Captain Tanaka, this is Mike Dilbert - Ground Soldiers are stationed on deck and ready for combat."

Sakamoto saw the last light turn on, all three were now green. "Okay Sakamoto, the Elevator is unlocked. You may enter when ready."

"Affirmative." Sakamoto stepped in, and was lifted up. _Okay… You've done this dozens of times over the years. You can do this. Nothing to worry about._ Stepping out, the Elevator went back down. "This is Commander Sakamoto - Ready for deployment." Then, everything stopped. The Alarms stopped, the ocean was calm, no noise. Yoshika noticed this in her room. Sakamoto lifted her eye-patch, revealing her magic purple eye. "Okay, I can see the clouds better now…" Silence… "It's opening both towards and away from us - they know we're here."

The clouds started to head towards the ocean and they suddenly broke causing Sakamoto's eye to twitch in response. "Neuroi spotted: distance 4000 closing in fast."

"Sakamoto, what's out there?"

"I see one Type 12, A dropship, and several type 7 air crafts. It's going to be a rough one." Sakamoto, gripping her cannon, got in a running position. "JFW 546, prepare to launch!" She began running forward, with the wings blowing exhaust, allowing her to take off, with the JFW 546 following suit.

The tannoy then burst into life once more the captain started to speak "All units prepare to fire on my word and watch out for the fliers in the sky"

Sakamoto, keeping her eye out, was able to practically swim through the gaps of the Neuroi air crafts. "JFW, I'm leaving the type sevens to you. I'll handle the large one."

"We hear you." The 546 then committed to fighting the planes, but there were simply too many for them to take down. For every Neuroi that got shot down, two got pasted.

Not that the 546 was getting shot down, but too many were approaching the fleet… including the drop ship.

"Damn It!" The captain yelled. "Units, we have types 1-3 landing on the ship!"

Before anyone could blink, the turret exploded, leaving the ship open. "Damn it! All Units, deploy!"

The Marksmen and the Ground Soldiers had an effective strategy: Marksmen shoot when they arrive to weaken the main body, with the ground Soldiers finishing it off. It would have been perfect, if not for the regenerative factor of the Neuroi.

The Captain, watching the whole ordeal break out, and about to open a bottle of wine, soon he had a visitor. "This is Neuroi Officer N-19." He turned around. "I've found the Ship leader - proceeding to terminate." The humanoid robot drew blades from its wrists, and lunged. The Captain, not being a fool, drew his sword, and engaged.

"Great… I can't seem to find it's weak point." Sakamoto continued to scan the giant carrier for it's core. "Where is it…"

The Marksmen, while getting lucky here and there, couldn't seem to straight up kill any of them. The Ground Soldiers, armed with shotguns and machine guns, had better luck, if only just.

"Mike, they just keep coming!"

"Man up, soldier! We're not letting this abominations take us out! Let's take out the large squad of Type twos and threes first! Then, we-" However _right_ before Mike finished that, what appeared to be a Neuroi version of one of the 546 planes crashed into the ship, taking out an entire squad of Neuroi Ground units.

"Damn it, they're suicide bombing us now?"

"Calm down - we can do anything about the ships - that one took out most of their largest squad! We need to capitalize on this! Tell the second squad to circle around the type ones while we finish what that botched bombing started!"

Yoshika during all this, was still in her own little room. _I… I should just stay here - I'm safer down here and I'd just get in the way._

The sound of the plane crashing into the top of the deck snapped her out of it. "No… I NEED to do something… I'm a witch now, and I can't just sit out of this." Yoshika got up and ran for a striker unit. "I may die if I go up there, but I can't live with myself hiding down here."

Yoshika, remembering how to get from their room the the supply room managed to reach it relatively fast. "Okay. These things have to work some way." She put the pack on and, pressing a red button had the backpack form to her figure. Looking to her side, something caught her eye - it was a large cannon. _I need to defend myself somehow, but i-_ she tried to pick it up it simply wouldn't move off of the table. She tugged so hard that when she let go she ended up falling backwards onto her backside and after she got up and started to rub it she noticed two things: Striker Units are durable as hell (by her standard), and there's an elevator to her left. "That wasn't there before." Stepping into it, she was able to figure out that it had to lead upwards.

Yoshika stepped out into what could only be seen as hell. The ship she spent the past week was now burning, smoking, and a ground for slaughtering.

"AH, GET IT OFF ME!" She turned her head to see a soldier being clawed by an animal-like Neuroi. A second later, a fellow soldier _did_ shoot it off her. Out of instinct, she ran over to help him. Unbeknownst to her, a Neuroi tried to lunge at her, but a Marksman shot it through the core with it bursting into fragments before Yoshika could react or even notice it.

"That was _**not**_ a type 3 unit!" He turned his attention to the wounded. "Frank, you okay!?" No response. "Frank, don't you dare die here!"

"Hang on!" Yoshika managed to get there fast enough. "Let me help. I can fix him. At least a bit."

The man, named Chuck, (reluctantly) stepped aside to let her work. _Okay, I need to keep blood flowing through the body._ Her hands began to glow over his chest. _Just repair the damage. Biology was your best subject, Yoshika. You can do this. You can do this._

"Hey kid…" The both looked down. "Am I dead?"

She smiled, saying "Sorry, not yet." She turned to Chuck. "I think you could carry him to a safer place."

"Bless you." Chuck said, trying to pick Frank up. Yoshika activated the wings, knowing what to do next. _I hope I'm using this thing correctly._

The Type 12 Ship soon began to fire back at Sakamoto, right as she found the core. "Now, as to how to destroy it?" Sakamoto activated her magic shield, giving her some time to think. _Damn it, Kyle - where are you? I could use some back up right now._

The two conflicting Captains were fighting, neither allowing the other to land a blow. Tanaka then had an idea that's crazy enough to work. He stopped attacking, let the Neuroi attack. "DIE, FLESH BAG!" The captain the activated what seemed to be a magic shield of his own, which caused the Neuroi to fly backwards. Not one to let the moment slip, he cut it's head open with his sword, and grabbed the bottle. Opening it up, he shoved it into the Neuroi's head before it could regenerate. This caused it to short circuit in a grotesquely violent manner, which caused the core to explode.

Having a moment to breath, he looked down at the dial he was holding for his shield. "Ichiro…" He looked out to the rest of the ship to a happier sight of the chaos slowing down as the Ground Unit's got it under control.

"This is Phoenix, all type 7 Neuroi ships have been shot down, the dropship included."

"CAPTAIN!" Mike yelled, coming in. "We're finishing the last of them as we speak. We're throwing the corpses into the ocean just to be safe."

"Mh. Good. You missed the Neuroi Captain." The Captain pointed to the sparking corpse on the ground.

"You two fought."

The Captain, with a 'you dumbass' expression, said "No, we discussed the invasion over a bottle of wine. What the hell did you think we were doing" With Mike having a laugh, "Status report."

"Marksmen report no losses. We lost Jim in the turret explosion. We lost a few men - names being retrieved."

"Planes?"

"Ask them yourself.

Grabbing the radio, "All Pilot, report in right now!"

"34 standing by."

"35 standing by."

"36 standing by."

"37 standing by."

"38 standing by."

"39 standing by."

"40 standing by."

"Phoenix standing by."

"Blue Eagle standing by"

"... Commander Kyle?" Mike and Tanaka started to worry. "Commander Kyle?"

"This is Phoenix… Kyle Yeaser crashed into the Ship. His plane exploded on impact."

"NO!" Mike yelled into the radio. "THAT WAS A NEUROI SHIP!"

"They were trying to take his over. He fought to the bitter end. He decided to take out a Neuroi squad with his plane."

The Neuroi lasers, despite being strong enough to bring down planes have not broken through Sakamoto's shield. "Hahaha! You'll need to do a lot better than that to beat me!" Then the lasers stopped, with a giant gun emerging out to attack. "Well, that's better." Sakamoto, careful to no longer be cocky, danced around the large cannon blasts. "Okay, first thing's first, create a hole." She fired in between shots at one target, after about a minute a hole formed. "Now, to land a blast." However, now all lasers focused on her and began to fire at full force. "Damn it!" _Great, now I can't move. I need my shield up, but they're charging up for a blast already. I'm… probably done for…"_

"Sakamoto!"

 _Yoshika?_ Just as the cannon went off, Yoshika got in the way. Closing her eye, awaiting the inevitable, she felt the presence of red light, but just for a minute. She opened her eyes to find Yoshika open an extra-large shield. _How did she do that? I've only seen Minna pull something like that off._ Yoshika, having the reality of her situation reach her, passed out into Sakamoto's arms (whom has just used magic to seal her cannon up)

"Sakamoto, I'm…"

"Shh…" Sakamoto hushed her. "You did fine." _I'm gratefully she saved me… But I can't hold my gun now!_

 ***Flare Noise***

Sakamoto looked to find a hole in the Type 12 Ship, with it's armor having melted away, followed by a carbine shot shattering the core inside. "Officer Sakamoto!" Sakamoto turned her head to see two familiar faces. _Shone… Perrine… nice to see you two…_ Sakamoto turned her head to Yoshika in her arms.

"Sakamoto, I'm sorry."

"What, why?"

"I stole a Striker Unit…"

"Hahaha… As far as you're concerned, you've earned it - at least for today."

"Hey, Shone?" The flyer turned to see Perrine "Who is that in Sakamoto's arms?"

"Another girl, that's all I can make out of it." Shone turned to see a _really_ pissed off Perrine.

"Yoshika…" Sakamoto smiled at the now sleeping Yoshika. "Let's get back to the ship…"

 **Sorry for this chapter taking so long to put out - real life isn't going to great right now, so that takes priority. But I'm not giving up on this story. Not not, not anytime soon.**

 **For a little fun fact, if you're wondering why Striker Units no longer look like the way they used to, it's namely for a story reason of Irchiro's research. They'll be a short story going more into this at a later date. Also, if you're wondering how a Fuso ship has Shotguns on board, there was originally going to be a bit explaining that Liberion supplied the ship with weapons on a previous mission, which is also why most of the soldiers have Western names. I cut this out because I couldn't find a good place to put it in.**

 **Name** : Micheal "Mike" Dilbert

 **Nickname** : Mickey (Coined and used by Kyle Yeaser)

 **Age** : 20

 **Birthplace** : Liberion

 **Affiliation** : U.N. Deployment Squad

 **Status** : Soilder

 **Magic** : _N/A_

 **Weapon(s)** : Various Shotguns

 **Likes** : Respect

 **Dislikes** : Witches

 **Notes** : Originating from Liberion, Mike was recruited into the U.N. after countless successful missions against ground Neuroi. Compared to his long-time friend Kyle Yeaser, he spent most of his combat years on the ground in squads and has a large deal of respect for the "common soldier of the world," as he puts it. On a less positive note, he seems to have a strong prejudice against witches - especially younger ones.

 **And yes, from Chapter 5 onward the ID Cards will be focused on the the witches of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. I just wanted to get these two out of the way.**


	5. Chapter 5: Striking Arrival

**Chapter 5: Striking Arrival**

Yoshika woke up on the deck of the Akagi in Sakamoto's eyes, greeted by the blue sky, the smell of smoking asphalt, and an increasingly familiar grey eye and eye-patch. "Morning, sunshine."

"Huh?" Yoshika, coming to her senses, looked off at the distance. "What… What happen to the ship we were fighting?"

"That was a Neuroi." Sakamoto looked into Yoshika's eyes. "And a damn strong one, too."

"Okay, that makes sense. Those are the things we're fighting, right?" Sakamoto nodded. "But what happened to it?"

"You don't remember?" Not breaking eye contact, "You took it down."

Yoshika, getting a lazy, and somewhat sleazy look in her eyes, said "Okay, now what _really_ happened to it?"

Sakamoto, looking at the grinning girl, accepted defeat and said "Okay, fine. Two other members of the 501st came over and finished the job after you saved me from it's giant laser blast."

Sakamoto pointed outward in the direction the ship was facing, showing an island coming into view, fast.

"That's-?"

"Yep, Striker Island." Yoshika, finding the strength to get up 'ran' to the edge of the ship to get the best view she can. "Excited to get there?"

"I am now!" She looked out in anticipation. "It's funny though, I wouldn't of guessed that I'd look so forward to this one week ago." She then stopped to think. "Say, what happened to those other members?"

"Simple, they went back to check up with the base - I guess we were closer than I thought." Sakamoto, picking the rather small girl up, placed her on her shoulders. "and don't worry, Yoshika. I'll hold up my end before we do anything."

Bending down to let her cuddle Sakamoto's head, "Thank you."

"Hahaha! You make really cute hat, you know?"

Yoshika blushed as she began at fall asleep in place as the approached Striker Island.

Sakamoto looked over to a nearby soldier. "Hey, can you get our bags and give them to Minna?"

As the man ran down to their little room, Sakamoto decided to look out to the sky. _I wonder why Kyle didn't join me during that fight? He usually has my back._

Yoshika woke up from her slumber when Sakamoto began to move to unboard the ship. "Yoshika, we're here!"

"How long was I out?"

"Only about 30 minutes." Patting her cute little hat, Sakamoto continued to walk. "So, you feeling better?"

"Yeah" Sakamoto bent over to let Yoshika get off. "I'm ready to meet my father!"

"Okay, he's… waiting for you on the other end of the base." Yoshika was about to run ahead, but Sakamoto grabbed her arm. "Now, rather than running through the base… let's take a back route. There's not any hurray..." The two walked around the surprisingly small-walled base, unaware of a watcher.

 _So,_ _ **this**_ _is the girl Charlotte said has been around Sakamoto for past week?_

After what was at most a fifteen minute walk, they arrived to the other end of the island, with a beautiful view of the ocean… and a large rock. "Uh… Sakamoto-"

"Yoshika… I'm sorry… I just couldn't bring myself to-" She stopped realizing Yoshika casually walking to the rock, which was actually a tombstone.

Turning around, she smiled. "It's okay. I knew about my father's death 3 years ago." She turned to her father's grave. "I need closure." She bent over, with tears falling onto the soil housing her father. _I know you promised to come home, father. But I don't hold it against you - none of s do. You… you had bigger promises to keep…._ ***sniff*** _And now… I promise… I promise to do the same… I'll give everything I've got to protect this world…._ Yoshika breathed in heavily. "I PROMISE!" She then collapsed onto her father's resting place. "I promise… I promise… I promise…" Sakamoto picked up the resting girl, and gave her some support to lean up for a bit.

After Yoshika calmed down a bit, Sakamoto asked "Yoshika, if you knew your dad was dead, why did you act like you didn't"

"Commander Sakamoto…" Sakamoto looked down at Yoshika. "You lied about my father to keep us both in a positive as happy as possible, right?" Sakamoto nodded. "I figured I should do the same."

Sakamoto, wiping a few tears from her eye, got up. "That's certainly something your father would do." They both looked at the tombstone. It had an engraving stating _**Use your power save those who have less for themselves.**_ "You know, that was his motto. He lived and died believing that."

"They are good words to live by." She smiled. "I'm not sure about my own power, but I know there are people I can help." Yoshika finally got up. "My father promised the world he'd live and die to fight these Neuroi, didn't he?" Not waiting for Sakamoto's response, "Well, I promise to do the same, however I can…"

Sakamoto patted her on the back. _Ichiro, you have a wonderful daughter to be proud of…_ "Come on, Yoshika, let's get you officially enrolled into the 501st."

"Yes, Captain Sakamoto!" Saluted Yoshika.

"Please," Sakamoto smiled. "Just call me Sakamoto."

 **I plan to give Ichiro Miyafuji a little short story soon enough to explain his back story in this version of Strike Witches. But for now, here's a thing or two about his daughter.**

 **Name** : Yoshika Miyafuji

 **Nickname** : Miyachan (Coin and used by Michiko)

 **Age** : 16

 **Birthplace** : Fuso

 **Affiliation** : 501st Joint Fighter Wing

 **Status** : Soilder

 **Magic** : Medical Magic

 **Weapon(s)** : None as of yet.

 **Likes** : Cooking, Practicing Magic, Breasts

 **Dislikes** : Guns

 **Notes** : Yoshika originates from Miyafuji Health Clinic (and farm). While she's well aware of her father taking part in the on-going war against the Neuroi, his contributions to the conflict have gone over her. She planned on spending her life running the family clinic, but Sakamoto had other ideas. Due to hearing about her father's demise, she holds the last photo they took together very closely; This resulted in her holding on to anything anyone gives her very closely.


	6. Chapter 6: Welcome to the 501st

**Chapter 6: Welcome to the 501st**

Sakamoto and Yoshika walked around the modestly sized Striker Island, heading for the largest of the five buildings there. "This, Yoshika, is the military base of Strike Island. Consider it the 'professional' building of the island."

 _I wonder what that means…_

"For now, all you need to worry about is that this is where you journey as a witch begins.

 _So what the hell was everything before this? A prologue?!_

The two walked in, finding a long hallway with every door seeming to have a staircase behind it. "Is there an ending to this maze of madness? Or at least is there a room on this floor?"

"Yes." Sakamoto smugly responded, pointing forward.

"So… we're just walk in a straight line?"

"Yep. We've been through a lot today, so I say we just enjoy a quiet walk…" Yoshika, getting a moment to think, realized how appealing the silence really was.

After adopting that mentality, the never ending hallway just seemed to stop in an instant. Opening the door, and letting the blinding light subside, they saw the room, clearly designed to hold more than who was present. Including her and Sakamoto, there were currently 13 people in the room, all girls. The one whom grabbed her attention was the red-haired lady in the front of the room behind a podium, waiting for the two to be seated.

"So, Sakamoto, it looks like mission success?"

"You bet, Minna!" Sakamoto fist-pumped into the air. She looked down at Yoshika. "Go on."

Yoshika walked forward to the woman she now knows to refer to as Minna, feeling a bit uneasy - made all the worse by getting jumped by one of the witches, causing everyone in the room to jump backwards in shock. "OH, CHRIS! I KNEW YOU WERE A WITCH!" Her brown eyes soon changed to stars "OH, BUT ONLY IN MY DREAMS WOULD HAVE WE BEEN PLACED IN THE SAME WING. OHISWEARTHISISTHEGREATESTDAYOFMYLIFE! WHAT'S YOUR MAGIC, SIS!?"

"Uh, Gertrud?" Minna said, trying not to laugh.

"Yes, Commanding Officer Minna?"

"That's.." ***Giggle*** "That's not your sister…"

Gertrud's stained glass delusion shattered, with her distraught face being to only aspect sticking to reality. "Un….understood, Commander Minna." Without changing her expression, Gertrud let Yoshika go and sat down next to a witch with short blonde hair.

"Don't feel bad, we all make asses out of ourselves every now and then."

" _Erica… you're… not… helping…"_ Gertrud soon had the blonde haired girl cuddling her head.

"It's okay, Gertrud." Gertrud's expression still hasn't changed.

Yoshika, doing everything in her power to ignore what just happened, continued walking forward to the girl she now knows to identify as Minna. "Yoshika Miyafuji, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please, feel free to just call me Minna." From her podium, she opened a wooden box and pulled out a standard-issue Karlsland pistol. "I'm sorry this is all I can give you for the moment."

"Huh?" Yoshika looked down at the handgun. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we Strike Witches like to give each witch her own personal loadout. But, for the moment, this is all I have for you."

The young witch somehow felt more out of her element than she was before. "Thank you, but I won't need it."

"Hmm?" Minna turned her head slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't see myself needing it."

Minna, shrugging, held her hand out. "Well, I welcome you to the 501st Joint Fighter Wing none the less!" Yoshika closed her eyes, smiling, and returned the handshake… find her hand to be much colder than she thought it would be. Opening her eyes, she found out why, she was now holding the pistol. "Sorry, but rather or not you _think_ you need it doesn't change the fact the I _know_ you will."

"Well…" Yoshika sighed. "I guess if you really think so."

"Yeah, you're definitely like Sakamoto, so I'd say you belong in her Squad!"

Now Yoshika turned her head in confusion. "Huh? Squad?"

"Oh, Sakamoto didn't tell you?"

 _Damn, I forgot to tell her…_

Charlotte looked at Sakamoto, with her usual smile, whereas Gertrud was still recovering from earlier.

"Well, here in the 501st, we have always tried to set ourselves up into groups." Minna looked out to the audience. "You see, we have three squads in the 501st. The Squad I'm going to place you in is Sakamoto's squad." Minna's watch suddenly went off, catching the entire room off guard. "Look, I'm sorry, but I need to go take care of some things with Sakamoto." Minna turned her attention to the room at large. "You all are welcome to introduce yourselves to Yoshika." Minna and Sakamoto left the room, leaving Yoshika with two things: a room full of witches she's never really meant, and a hell of a lot of anxiety. The first two to approach her were completely opposite in appearance. One was rather short, with a noticeable tan, deep black hair, and grey-ish eyes. The other was the tallest woman in the 501st, with short orange hair, and blue eyes. The latter was the first to talk to her.

"So, you're the new witch?"

"Yes." Yoshika said. _She's been smiling at me the entire time._ Before either girl could talk, Yoshika was… groped from behind.

"Yeah! First Crack!" The young one behind her said. Yoshika, understandably, was a bit too freaked out to react.

"Francesca, don't grab what isn't yours. We've been over this."

The young-looking girl let go of Yoshika, who scooted backwards until she hit something. Stopping to look at that something, she noticed it was a witch with a ponytail behind her. "Well, Yoshika, it seems you've met our resident boob checker huh?"

 _boob checker…!?_ Yoshika said to herself whilst looking at Francesca and then back to the other witch.

"Nah, I'm just messing around with you." She looked down. "Sorry for the scare…"

Yoshika only just got a good look at this woman - she's easily the most muscular women Yoshika's _ever_ seen. Adding to the uncanniness is how her face was almost _identical_ to Sakamoto's; the fact this woman was lacking a eye patch was when Yoshika realized this wasn't Sakamoto.

 _Wow… Deep Voice._

"No problem, miss…" The woman's smile proceeded to fade. Before Yoshika could say anything else, her robes suddenly burst into flames, causing the grounded Yoshika to scoot backwards from her - while being mindful of the fact that Francesca wasn't too far behind her. After the fire subsided, Yoshika learned that she only had pants on underneath the robes, and a ripped body. With her smile returning, Yoshika grabbed her hand, reaching out to help.

"Anyway, hello! My name is Shone Hosho, sole wizard of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing!"

"Well met, Shone." Yoshika scratched her head. "Sorry about mistaking you for a girl…"

"No problem, it's a common mistake." He grabbed Yoshika, turning her around, and pointed to Francesca. "You should've seen her reaction to trying to grope my chest. She _wasn't_ expecting abs." Shone and Yoshika had a hard laugh. After they stopped, he whispered to her "Let's keep me being a man between us, okay?"

"Hey Shone!" The two turned to find the tall, orange haired girl yelling for her, ignoring Francesca. "Seems you've burned another set of robes."

"Huh? What do ya mean, Charolette?" Shone looked down behind him to find a pile of ash that was his robes. "DAMN IT! NOT AGAIN!" Yoshika gave him some room to cool off. ***sigh*** "Those were a gift, too."

"Who?" Yoshika asked."

"Me." Charlotte said.

Shone bent over a bit to reach Yoshika's level. "Anyway, the orange-haired girl is Charlotte E Yeager - although you can just call her Shirley. She's from Liber-."

"E YEASER!?" _Oh, wow, maybe she knows Kyle! Oh, man, she probably recognizes that these are his old goggles. That's probably why she was smiling! Oh man, this is-_

"Sorry, _Yeager_ , not _Yeaser_."

"Oh." _Damn it._

"Anyway, the girl… erm… enjoying her is Francesca Lucchini."

Charlotte spoke up. "You know, Francesca, one day you'll find someone who you are attracted to beyond appearance, and when that happens, I just can't let you do this!"

"NEVER!" Charlotte merely laughed at Francesca's response.

"Shone, Charlotte doesn't seem all too bothered by it." Yoshika looked over at Shone.

"Well, Yoshika, Charlotte isn't bothered by things she deems petty."

"And getting groped by a twelve year old isn't?"

"Well, you might not of guessed it, but Francesca is actually 16 years old."

Yoshika, reluctantly, looked back to the fondling practice that was still going on for some reason. "You're right… Not my first guess."

"Now," Shone turned Yoshika around a bit. "The blonde-haired girl over there is called Perrine H Clostermann. She's a Marksman among the witches here, as is Francesca."

"Wouldn't of guessed that, either." Perrine made no attempts of eye contact with Yoshika. Before she could ask why, a girl with short, silver hair walked up to them she had two machineguns and a military construction hammer with her. "So, this is the new witch?"

 _This woman's face has_ _ **so many scars!**_ _And her arms all bandaged up! Did she wrestle a bear?! Or… is_ _ **that**_ _what the Neuroi can do to people?_ "Yes… and you are?"

"Laura Toth. I've heard you're the one who saved Sakamoto from a type 12 Neuroi, correct?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Well," Laura said. "While I'm confused as to how she got into that situation, I guess it's a sign of promise that you could do that." She walked pasted Yoshika and Shone. "Good luck actually living up to it."

"Still upset about losing your position?"

"Up yours, Jack."

"Shone."

"Don't care." She turned around real quick. "Charlotte, I'm going back to our condo."

"Okay, Laura. See you there." And with that, Laura left.

"Anyway, the girl that jumped you earlier is Gertrud Barkhorn. I guess you look like that Chris girl she knows." The two look over to find Gertrud still recovering. "Yeah, she's _really_ embarrassed that happened."

"Who's the girl over her?"

"That's Erica Hartmann." He looked around. "Now, there's two other members, but they seem to not be here anymore. Strange, I saw them a little bit ago. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll met them enough." Shone rubbed his chin. "Now, what am I forgetting…. OH YEAH!" He shot up, with Yoshika almost falling over again. "Lynette, care to come over?" Yoshika looked up to find a girl with light brown hair nervously looking at her. "Look, Lynette, I need to go check some things out for Yoshika, care to give her a once over of the base?"

"Sure…" Lynette calmly said. "Well… Yoshika, is it? I guess we should get started." The two left through the door. Shone, getting a bit bored, decided the door wasn't the way he was going to leave. He went to a side of the room, and opened a window.

"Shone" Perrine said "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well," Shone got halfway out "I have a surprise for them, and I don't want them following me, do I?" He made it through the window, jumping down. "Ow!"

Charlotte laughed, with Francesca having finally stopped. "Looks like he forgot about the bushes out there."

"Again" Perrine added.

Lynette and Yoshika spent about a good half hour on the second floor, showing the gym, multiple training areas, spare rooms for various visitors and much more that Yoshika figured she'd never actually use. "Say, Lynette, is there anything beside the meeting room and stairs on the first floor."

"Well, there is one thing." The two quickly ran down stairs, with Lynette showing here the dining room. "We don't come here every day to eat, only on Sundays and special occasions." She signaled Yoshika to follow her. "And this is the kitchen."

Yoshika's eyes lit up, being filled with stars. " _WOW!"_ She started to jump, damn near teleporting around the room.

" _LOOK AT THIS!"_

" _THIS IS THE NEWEST MODEL STOVE!"_

" _SOO MANY CABINETS!"_

" _SO MANY FRESH INGREDIENTS!"_

" _MEAT!"_

Yoshika went on and on, gaga-ing over the kitchen in place. "So, I take it you like to cook?"

Yoshika, backpedaling through the air, nodded. " _I live for it…"_

"Say, I wouldn't of guessed you knew flying magic."

Yoshika's fantasy burst. "I don't."

 ***Thud***

"You okay?"

"Yeah…" _I'm never doing THAT again._

"Anyway, that's about everything here. This building is the military base of the Island, after all."

The two walked out of the base. "That building was meant for more than a single Wing of Strike Witches."

"Could of figured that out." Joked Yoshika.

"That building over there is storage for things we don't need anymore. Old Jets, broken units, things that the squad no longer needs go there." Lynette had a chill go down her spine after finishing that sentence, which did not go unnoticed from Yoshika. "Any-way, we could go to the shooting range, or the condos."

"It's getting late," Yoshika mentioned. "I say we head to the condos."

Luckily for them, it only took a few minutes to get to said condos. "You see, the red one is ours, with the green one being Charlotte's and the blue on being Gertrud's."

"So, they're squad leaders?"

"Yeah." Lynette seemed sad, but only for a moment. "You see Yoshika, we each tend to get our own room, and we can really make it our own. If you go into any room that's not mine, you'll see what I mean." Yoshika was about to ask what that meant, before a now familiar voice interrupted.

"About that." The two turned around to find Shone right behind them. "Follow me." And so they did - they followed him straight into the largest room in the condo.

 _Hang on, this is my room…_ Lynette realized.

"So, Yoshika, I think you'll be here. It's best for everyone."

 _Awesome!_ Yoshika thought, thinking back to her time aboard Akagi. _Not that I minded being with Sakamoto, but having my own room will be-_

"Lynette, what are you doing?" Shone asked as Lynette began to grab the few things lying around in her otherwise barren room.

"Packing up, moving to the guest room; it's all that's left.

"But there's a queen size mattress here, surely that's enough for both of you."

"Wait, that means-" Both girls looked at each other, blushing.

"Well, that's just fine." Smiled Yoshika. _Lynette seems nice. I could get used to being around her._

 _Wait, Yoshika is okay with sharing a room… sharing a BED with me?_

"Well, that's good." _I was nervous that Yoshika would be against sleeping with some random girl._ Shone looked outside. "It's getting late, so I'm heading back to my room - I'm two doors down should you need me. I've set Yoshika's stuff up on her side of the bed. Sakamoto will come in tomorrow, she'll be staying with Minna for the night." Shone left, leaving the two to their business.

"So, Lynette, What's with this whole Squad thing."

"Okay, let me explain." A thought bubble shared between the two formed. "You see, in most other Wings, there are four Ranks: Commanding Officer, Combat Officers, Special Soldiers, and Soldiers. Minna would be Commanding Officer, with Sakamoto being Combat Officer, Gertrud and Erica would be Special Officers and the rest would be Soldiers. However, that puts just a bit too much on their plate, so we have our own ranking system." Mental Yoshika began to take notes. "Minna's still the commanding Officer, with us having three Squad Officers instead: Sakamoto, Charlotte, and Gertrud. However, when the entire wing trains Sakamoto is treated as the Combat commander. And now, with you joining our ranks, that's 3 Soldiers per squad. Each Squad seems to have their specialty. Charlotte's Squad are excellent Ground Soldiers, and Gertrud's Squad is unmatched in the air…"

"And us?" asked an excited Yoshika.

Said excitement died when Lynette sighed. "I don't know… I haven't don't much in the way of anything here… I'm still awful at using Striker Units, and I'm not strong enough to use my weapon." Yoshika looked at her.

"How long have you been here?"

"Only a few months, before you I was the new rookie. I still am, in a sense." She looked at Yoshika. "Unlike you, I haven't once went into the skies." She then collapsed into the bed, bursting the bubble. "On top of that, I'm easily the worst soldier here - Sakamoto knows so, too."

"Look, I don't know much here, but here's what I know." Yoshika made sure to keep eye contact with her new roommate. "Everyone here has what it takes."

Lynette, while still in a bit of disbelief, nodded and turned her head to go to bed. "Well, I guess you could be right."

 ***Yawn*** "I am right. And I promise to make you believe so." With a smile, the two ladies fell asleep.

A slim finger flipped the lights off, and shut the barely open door.

"Well Shone, I guess you were right."

"I told you, Sakamoto, Lynette will benefit from her. Yoshika is what she needs."

Smiling, Sakamoto looked at the door. "You're probably right."

"Aren't I always?"

"No."

Lynette woke up inside a dark room, with the smell of metal and salt water around her. She picked up a flashlight, and noticed all of the brocken jets lying around. She wanted to get up, but her legs wouldn't move, they were trapped under some gun she couldn't move. She felt a Striker Unit on her back, when when trying to turn it, it merely blew dust.

" _ **Don't worry, Lynette, you're safe here."**_ She turned to the noise to find a purple outline of Sakamoto. The voice… it was too haunting to be hers, yet it was. " _ **The Neuroi won't attack you here."**_

" _But, I'm here to fight them!"_

" _ **But you can't Lynette. We've proven that by now. You can't work as a Strike Witch, so we'll hold you here for the time."**_ The outline seemed to turn around, and walk to the door. " _ **We just got a new witch, so maybe you'll have some company soon."**_ She opened then shut the door.

" _Sakamoto!"_ No answer. " _Shone!"_ Still nothing. " _Charlotte, Perrine, Erica, SOMEBODY, HELP!"_

" **AHHH!"** Breathing as heavy as she could, Lynette woke up to be back in her room. "Damn, why do I keep having that dream."

"What dream?" Lynette turned to find a drowsy Yoshika staring at her.

"Oh, nothing serious. Let's just go back to bed."

"Bull. If it wasn't serious, then you wouldn't of woke up screaming."

Lynette blushed. "It's… stupid…"

"I'm not believing you until you tell me."

"Fine!" Lynette had a tear go down her face. "I have nightmares about the scrapyard."

"What? Why? You know what's in there, right."

"Yeah, I do. I know what they put in there."

"Then why be afraid of it?" Lynette then began to cry a bit. _Wait a second_

 _("things that the squad no longer needs go there.")_

 _("I don't know… I haven't don't much in the way of anything here… I'm still awful at using Striker Units, and I'm not strong enough to use my weapon.")_

 _("I still haven't taken to the skies.")_

The crying Lynette's tears were matched by a crying Yoshika's embrace. "I promise… you're _**not**_ useless! And you WILL take to the skies. I'll make sure, we'll train together, got it?"

"Sure…" Lynette smiled, falling down and bringing Yoshika with her. "I'm tired."

"Me too, Lynette." They both closed their eyes. "Me too."


	7. Chapter 7: Knowledge and Practice

**Chapter 7: Knowledge and Practice**

Sakamoto walked into the room to find an… interesting scene.

"Good morning, ***pfff*** Yoshika." Sakamoto said, trying not to laugh.

Shone came running to the door. "Sakamoto, what's going-" Looking into front of him answered the question, and gave him a laughing fit that floored him.

Yoshika woke up to find her head between… not pillows. They were soft mind you but they were definitely not pillows.

" _ **AH!**_ " Yoshika pushed her hands directly into the not pillows, causing Lynette to wake up a take notice to Yoshika's hands.

"EP!" And with that the blushing and drooling Lynette returned to the wonderful land of sleep.

 ***Thud***

 _That_ was the sound of Shone falling to the floor, laughing. Turning around, Yoshika noticed him along with Sakamoto, was laughing just as hard. 'Oh, man. One day here, and she's already gotten into mischief!" Shone said, struggling to breathe.

Sakamoto, calming down a touch, said "Yeah, you belong here."

 _I swear if Sakamoto is putting me in the same boat as Francesca, I'm gonna slug her…_

Sakamoto, getting full control and helping Shone up, made a proposition. "So, Yoshika, you in the mood for cooking? It's 11 am, so breakfast or lunch will do." Yoshika popped out of bed with a smile (as if the previous event had never happened) and humming a little tune. Shone went over to pick up Lynette.

Lynette woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. "Morning." Lynette looked to her side to find Shone, smiling, and to find herself sitting in a chair.

The fact she woke up in a chair didn't seem to bother her. "I had a strange dream…" She looked at Yoshika, blushing and being glad she was too busy cooking to notice.

"Hey, Sakamoto." Sakamoto got up to see what Yoshika had to say.

"Yes, Yoshika?"

"Do me a favor." Yoshika brought Sakamoto close to her. At a whisper "Don't tell Lynette about earlier, She doesn't seem to believe it happened. In fact, don't even acknowledge it."

While not entirely sure why, Sakamoto acknowledged and respected her request. Sitting down, Yoshika finished cooking the last of the eggs, and served each a plate with Bacon and Eggs. "Sorry, we're kind of low on food, it would seem. These were all I could find."

"Oh, really?" Sakamoto turned to Shone, who hasn't yet touched his food. "Shone, can you check up on the other two groups and make sure they're still good on supplies?"

"Sure."

 ***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

"As soon as I check up on that." Shone left the kitchen, going to the door.

 ***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

"I'M COMING!" Shone yelled. He opened the door to find Minna, holding a large bag and a small one.

"Sorry, Shone, but I need to talk to rest of the squad."

"Sure. Sakamoto is always happy to see you." Turning around, he didn't see Minna's reaction to that. He ran to the kitchen.

"Hey, Sakamoto, guess who wants a cha-?" Shone's face nearly fell apart at the scene in front of him: Sakamoto is already done with her plate, and starting on his. "THAT'S MINE!"

"Well… you weren't eating it." Sakamoto was trying to pass on a cute face. Shone's face, however, was not impressed. He quickly snatched, and quickly scarfed down the bacon and what was left of his eggs. "YOU KNOW WE'RE RUNNING LOW ON FOOD!"

"Well…" Sakamoto scratched her head, realizing there's no way out of this.

"I figured you two would be past that." A smiling Minna came into the kitchen.

"Some things never change." Shone and Sakamoto said at the same time.

"Well, I _was_ going to make sure you four were good on food, but I think the answer to THAT is clear."

The four looked at each other, then back and nodded. "Still, Minna, is that all you came over for?"

"Sorta." She handed Shone the large bag. "Now, get to the pier. Perrine and Erica are waiting for you on the boat."

"Boat?" Yoshika whispered to Lynette.

"It's a speedboat designed by your father for witches to use." Yoshika went starry eyed, for a split second, at the mentioning of her father.

"Okay…" Shone took the bag, and left, muttering "You know I hate going out in public..."

Minna turned to Sakamoto, holding the small bag. "So, you and Yoshika ready?" Sakamoto nodded.

"Wait, ready for what?" Yoshika asked.

"Well, your training starts today." Sakamoto signaled her to follow. Yoshika was quick to do so, but just a quick to turn around at her roommate. "What's wrong, Yoshika?"

Yoshika was remembering last night…

"Hey, why not take Lynette along?" Everyone in the room looked over at Yoshika to make sure they heard that. "What? She needs to train, better than leaving her on her own." Minna whispered something to Sakamoto, with Yoshika only making out that Shone's name came up."

"Lynette, do you believe you're up for training today." A nod was all Sakamoto got asa response. "Okay, I'll train you both. Lynette, get you weapons."

"Yes ma'am!"

"What about mine?" Yoshika asked.

"Well," Minna answered. "I'm getting that sorted out. You see, we need to head to the warehouse for some things." Sakamoto and Minna turned around. "We'll wait outside."

Yoshika turned around to find Lynette arming her weapon: A Crossbow. "Wow! THAT'S your weapon?"

"Ranged, anyway. It's lighter than it looks." Lynette said with a smile. She then picked up her Metal Kanabo. " _ **THIS**_ is what I said I can't wield."

"But you can lift it?" Lynette took a moment to explain that having the strength to lift something doesn't equal being able to swing it. "Oh." She shook her head. "Anyway, let's get going."

The two walked outside, nodding at Sakamoto and Minna. "Okay, let's get going." And with that, the four began their walk to their destination.

As they got closer, however, Lynette saw the warehouse and reacted as one would expect. Upon reaching the front of the building Lynette suddenly froze on the spot, and grabbed Yoshika, pulling her behind the corner. The little "ep" she let out did not go unnoticed by Sakamoto or Minna. However, in Sakamoto's attempt to stop this. Minna stopped her.

"Minna, what are you ?"

"Shh! I want to hear this."

And so, listening in while trying not to be seen, they heard the two speak.

"Lynette, are you _really_ that scared of the warehouse, or scrapyard as you call it?"

"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T LAUGH!"

"I'm not laughing." Yoshika tried to calm her down. "But look, we're not here to leave you. Minna just needs to pick something up." Lynette still cowered a little bit. Sighing, she grabbed Lynette's hand. "Look, if you ever feel like you'll be left behind, just hold onto me - I promise to never leave you behind!"

Lynette nodded, finally getting the ability to walk back. Minna and Sakamoto quickly and quietly went back to the door. "So, Lynette's scared of _this place_?"

"I think it's sweet." Minna smiled, unlocking the door. The two noticed Yoshika and Lynette walking up to the other duo.

After the door was unlocked, the four walked into the "scrap yard" that was the warehouse. Lynette was practically glued to Yoshika, not letting go. "Hey, Minna, what are we here for?"

"Well, that's quite simple." Minna says turning to look at Yoshika "We're here to find you a weapon you - can't exactly train without one." Out of blinding eagerness, Yoshika started looking around for one with Lynette slowly loosening her grip. However, Yoshika missed Minna saying "Where is it?" and tripped over some lunk of metal - taking Lynette with her - causing another comical moment between the two. Sakamoto, realizing their position, started to turn a bit red. "Jealous, Sakamoto?"

"NO!" She quickly turned around. Whilst Minna giggled as she looked over the two, until something caught their attention - voices coming from outside.

"NO, YOU DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE! OUR ROOM HAS ENOUGH OF YOUR CRAP IN THERE AS IT IS!"

"Come on, Gertrud, no one else uses anything in this rickety old shed besides me and you." The two walked in to find the four searching through it. "Oh, I stand corrected."

"Hey, Erica, back already?" Sakamoto asked, prompting a confused reaction from Gertrud and Erica.

"What are you talking about?" The two asked simultaneously; Minna had some explaining to do.

Meanwhile, Yoshika and Lynette finally picked themselves up, and searched for a weapon. Yoshika saw something rather large and rusted - it looked like a gun. "This looks like a tool for fighting the Neuroi!"

"Uh, Yoshika, can you lift that?"

"Sure." Yoshika tried to grab the gun, which looked to weigh more than she does. "I.. JUST.. NEED.. TO-" Her grip gave out, letting go of the weapon, flying backwards into a pile of metal.

"YOSHIKA!" Lynette ran to make sure she was okay - she was. However, Yoshika pulled something out of the pile that broke her flight - what appeared to be a melted Striker Unit.

"Lynette, what happened to it?" Yoshika started to have some nightmarish images in her head of what kind of Neuroi it would take to do that.

"That's Shone's first Striker Unit."

 _Oh thank goodness._

"He's the reason we've added metal to its shell." Yoshika had a laugh at the believability of Shone melting one of these, when Erica became informed.

"WHAT! SHONE'S WAITING FOR ME AT THE DOCKS?!"

"Perrine, too." Minna innocently added. Like a speeding bullet, Erica took off. Gertrud took her attention away from her teammate (for once) and placed it on Minna.

"You never told us…"

"I didn't?" Minna scratched her head, in a manner Sakamoto usually does. "Oops…" Gertrud merely shook her head and left. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, Now I remember where it is!" Minna stopped searching through the ground and looked up on one of the walls. "I actually hung it up where it belongs." Minna grabbed a sword off the wall, and gave it to Sakamoto, and then pulled out a pistol of some sort. "You can thank Gertrud for putting this together for you. I picked it up this morning."

Sakamoto came to a realization. "That's when you noticed they were running out of food, huh?" Minna smiled and nodded. Minna turned around, signaling Yoshika and Lynette to follow. After the four of them left the warehouse, Minna looked over to the three.

"Okay, Sakamoto, you know what to do." And with that, Minna turned around and went back to the base.

"Okay, you two, let's go to the runway!" The three went to sit down on the runway, which wasn't too far of a walk from their position.

 _After spending nearly a week on the Akagi, nothing will ever beat that._

"Sakamoto?" Yoshika asked. "Is it safe to be here? I mean, what if an Airplane needs to take off or-"

"Don't worry, this may have ONCE been a military base, but it's now just our little island - more or less." Sakamoto smiled, and handed Yoshika the gun that Minna gave her, along with some ammo. "First off, you need a gun." Yoshika was given what looks like a pistol. It was a bit bigger, with a noticeably larger magazine for the gun.

"Another one?" Yoshika looked to her side, revealing she still has the pistol Minna gave her.

"This one was made personally by Gertrud, you remember her, right?"

" _ **CHRIS!"**_ Yoshika's flashback began and ended in a second. _Yeah, like I could forget…_

"Well, her magic allows her to build things, like your pistol. Gertrud says it's basically a machine pistol." Yoshika started to enter her wonderland once more, trying to imagine what all Gertrud could do.

"She's doing that weird thing again…" Lynette said.

"Now, here's your melee weapon." Yoshika, popping back to reality, accepted the blade being offered to her, and just… stared at it.

"So, why give me this over anything else?"

"Cause it's a ninja sword!" Sakamoto started to sweat a bit at Yoshika AND Lynette's silence. " _And_ neither of you understand the significance of that, do you?" Both girls shook their heads.

 _Damn it…_

"Huh, okay, do either of you even know what a ninja is?" The two girls nodded. "Okay, good, now what makes this important is that ninjas were Fuso's first ever group of magic users!"

"WHAT!" Yoshika yelled out, causing Lynette to plug her eyes for split second. "Really?!"

"Yep!" The fist-pumping Sakamoto said. "Back in the days of war-bound Empires of Fuso, they learned magic to defend themselves from Empires and their Samurai."

"HOW?" Yoshika started to, more or less, teleport around Sakamoto, asking questions.

This caused Sakamoto to grab Yoshika by the head, and calmly (comedically) placed the now pouting Yoshika next to Lynette. "Now, that's a story for another day."

"How do you do that?" Lynette asked.

"Huh?"

"How to you so effortlessly lift things like that? No offense, but Shone's muscles are more defined than your, yet I've seen you lift more than him… how?"

"Well, Lynette, that's actually a great place to start, since you both need to learn about magic. It's a form of Enhancement Magic!"

"Huh? Enhancement Magic?" The two girls asked.

"Yep!" _I should have sent these girls to a train camp somewhere first._ "This kind of magic allows someone to add magic into something and increase its property. There are two types of it: we'll call them types A and B. Both involve putting your magic into the object... " Sakamoto took out her sword, and lifted her eye-patch. "With Type A, your magic gives your weapon properties of your magic. For example, my magic is piercing magic-" Sakamoto pointed to her left eye "-especially in my eye. However, I can add it to my sword to make it pierce defenses, be it magic or armor base." Sakamoto drew her Samurai Sword as it began to glow purple. "See? I can also do so with my gun, as can you two." Sakamoto smiled, closing her eye patch. She then proceeded to lift her cannon-grade machine gun with one hand. "This is known as Type B. Here, you use the magic to enhance the object's natural abilities instead of adding your own. In this case, I'm enhancing my muscles!"

Yoshika, as should be expected, was amazed by this, with Lynette at least being impressed.

"Sadly, you two won't be reaching that just yet. First, you need to get yourselves more combat ready." Yoshika now had a look of disappointment, whereas Lynette had a more binal look.

 _Well, what WAS Yoshika expecting?_

Sakamoto reached into her bag, and gave them both Striker Units. "Now, we have two major things you two need to improve: Magic control and physical prowess."

 _Great._ Both girls thought.

Sakamoto got an aura around her once more, one showing authority. "Now, I'm _**not**_ going to go easy on you two, go it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good! Now, we're going to haul ass around the base 3 times!"

And thus began the next week of hard training. While each day had the pattern changed up, each one involved:

Running up and down the runway for as long as they could, and then to push themselves a bit farther.

Flying through the air in Strike Units, which drained their magic like nothing else. Which was almost always followed by some other third thing, be it repeating one of the two previous exercises, or simply practicing with their weapons on their own. It was tiring none the less, two days in.

So, needless to say, it was _**exhausting**_ by the sixth day.

 _It's the Akagi all over again!_ Yoshika still smiled, or tried to with her being in the middle of running around. _But it's not too bad, I guess._ Yoshika looked over to Lynette. _This certainly has it's benefits._

Yoshika, not focusing on balance, fell over and on the pavement, cutting her knee a bit.

"Yoshika!" Lynette stopped running, and turned around to help her. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry Lynette, I'm fine." Yoshika placed her hand over the small wound. "I'm a doctor, remember?" The blood stopped, and the wound began to heal. "See, no need to worry!"

Lynette simply smiled and helped her up. "Good to know. Well, it's the end of the day, and Sakamoto doesn't seem to be around, so-"

"Giving up already?" They turned around to see Gertrud facing them. "Lynette, I was starting to think you're taking your training serious." Lynette didn't look the abrasive witch in the eyes, which have now turned their attention to Yoshika. "And you - I though a Miyafuji would be more dedicated!" The two girls looked at each other, with Gertrud walking past them to stare at the sunset. "You see, you two need to understand the threats of being here. The Neuroi could attack at any moment, and you never know if you end up being one of the ones having to put your lives on the line!" She looked back to the girls. "You two will both need to-"

"Gertrud, that's enough!" All three noticed Sakamoto walk up behind them. "I was letting them work on their own. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't call quits earlier. I'll handle them from here, thank you."

And with that, Gertrud turned around and walked back to her condo, clearly not in a good mood.

"Okay, girls, we have one thing to do for today. We have one last thing to do today, some magic training."

The tired witches sighed. "Okay, give us the striker units."

"Oh, no, not today. Today, I'm teaching you to reach your familiar."

"Our what?" Lynette asked.

 _These girls are just fucking with me now, right?_ "Well, every person has a spirit animal, right? Well, learning how to access yours is the first true step to learning how to control magic."

Yoshika looked over to Lynette, both nodding their heads. "Than what was the point of having us do this for six days?"

"Well, Yoshika, that was a test of you will."

The two nearly fell on the ground at that revelation.

"Pick yourselves up." Sakamoto deadpanned. "Now, to access your spirit animal, it's merely concentration, and flow of magic. Ignore everything else."

And the two girls followed their instructor/officers orders. To the trio's surprise, Lynette was able to activate her animal.

"Cat ears?" She said. "Wait, how do I know that?"

"Tail, too." Yoshika said, point to Lynette's back.

"Oh…" Lynette sat there, looking at Sakamoto. "So, now what?" Sakamoto just shrugged. Lynette proceeded to freak out and run around. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?! I DON'T WANT TO BE A CAT GIRL! OH CRAP! OH CRAP! OH CRAP! OH CRAP!"

"I honestly think she's a cute cat girl." Yoshika giggled. "Sakamoto, is this normal?"

"No, normally Erica's the one running around."

Yoshika smiled back, getting up. Lynette stopped running like a chicken without it's head to find Yoshika squeezing her ears. "Wow! So realistic!"

"NOT HELPING!" Lynette yelled, a bit angry now. Also confused to find Yoshika giggling about being yelled at.

"Let me see." Sakamoto then proceeded to feel the ears, and tail too.

 _This is just wrong…._

 _ME NEXT!_

"Impressive, Lynette, I didn't think you'd get it one your very first try." _Excellent magic control if I've seen it._ "Lynette, just calm down, and stop using magic, you'll go back to normal. Yoshika, Your turn."

Yoshika was able to quickly do so, but with less success. Sakamoto feeling them proved so. "They feel too fake. Let's try again."

Yoshika, waiting some time, had them disappear. She would continue to repeat that process until Sakamoto eventually stopped her.

"Look, you need a break. I say we go back to the condo, and you can try again tomorrow." A frowning Yoshika nodded, but promised to wait until tomorrow to continue.

However, this was a lie. After the other two went to sleep, she got out of bed, went outside the condo, and began to practice. _I'm not quitting… I need to do this… I WILL do this_

Though hours of work went by with no better results. Yoshika, using what little of her brain was awake, went back to her room, and being careful not to wake Lynette up, put on her strike unit. _I seem to use my magic a bit better with one of these. I just need practice…_

Lynette woke up to find herself to be alone, which was odd - Yoshika normally leaves the door cracked open as a signal for Lynette. Getting out of bed, she left the room and went into the kitchen to find Shone making something to eat., with Sakamoto simply waiting. "Morning, Lynette."

"Morning, Shone. Breakfast fend for yourself?"

"Yeah, unless you feel like waking up Yoshika."

"Sure I will, where is she?" Sakamoto and Shone looked at her, with Shone dropping his bowl, luckily it didn't break.

"So, you don't know where she is?" Sakamoto, Shone, and Lynette all asked at once. With all three failing to provide answers, they fled the room to find her.

"The Bathroom!" Shone ran inside, checking any place she could be. "Yoshika?"

Not in the tub.

Nor in the sink.

Nor in the toilet.

"She's not in here!"

"She's not in the guest room, either!" Lynette yelled

"Found her!" Sakamoto yelled. The two followed the voice to find Sakamoto outside, looking at a sleeping Yoshika, with fox ears and a matching tail.

 **Wow. It's been over a year since I've started this. Damn. And to think that people still read this. It means a lot, honestly. Sorry for the lack of updates. Life keeps getting more hectic. But on the plus side, I'm going to start publishing my own original works at some point. So that's nice. But I'll get onto the character ID Card since last chapter didn't have one.**

 **Name** : Mio Sakamoto

 **Nickname** : Dead-Eye Mio (Coined and used by Kyle)

 **Age** : 20

 **Birthplace** : Fuso

 **Affiliation** : 501st Joint Fighter Wing

 **Status** : Combat Officer, Squad Leader (Unofficial)

 **Magic** : Piercing Magic (Unofficial)

 **Weapon(s)** : Fuso Samurai Sword

 **Likes** : Training, 501st Division, Minna

 **Dislikes** : Neuroi, Acts of Stupidity

 **Notes** : With a rare type of magic that no other living witch possesses, recruiting Sakamoto into the Strike Witches Program was inevitable. Seen as one of the most powerful witches currently recruited, Sakamoto proudly brags about how the 501st has never lost a wingman in or out of combat. As a side not in this version, she is given an incredible appetite on account of her magic consumption.


	8. Chapter 8: Hot Waters, Cool Memories

**Chapter 8: Hot Waters, Cool Memories**

Yoshika woke up to Shone, Sakamoto, and Lynette looking at her. She looked down to see her bed. "So… it was just a dream." She sighed. THAT theory was debunked by Lynette returning the favor from yesterday.

"I doubt that, these feel like real to me." Lynette smiled. She then stopped for a minute. "You want to test it out, Sakamoto?"

"Nah, I'll just take your word for it - you don't strike me as a liar." Lynette smiled at Sakamoto's trust.

"THEN I WILL!" Shouted someone from behind Yoshika, grabbing her ears. Yoshika then got a solid idea of what it would be like to use rocket magic, as she flew through the air, bumped her head on the ceiling, and landed in her catapulters arms. "Jumpy, huh?" Looking up, Yoshika saw vaguely familiar orange hair.

Shone smiled at Yoshika. "Don't worry, Yoshika, Charlotte wouldn't do anything bad to you."

"Nothing you don't ask for." Charlotte joked. She looked down to see the blushing Yoshika still had her animal ears. Charlotte, looking up, declared "SHE'S ADORABLE!" and proceeded to snuggle her. "Can I keep her?"

Lynette and Sakamoto both shared expressions and thoughts. _She's mine…_

"Sorry, Shirley, but I don't think these two are going to give Yoshika up."

"Aw…" Charlotte pouted, placing the poor girl back on her bed. "Fine, Shone, you can keep her."

"Um… Charlotte?" Yoshika asked.

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

Charlotte resumed her large grin. "I just love checking in on others from time to time."

"And YOU'RE okay with that?" Yoshika turned her attention to Sakamoto, prompted Charlotte to hug Yoshika from behind.

"You should see Gertrud's reaction whenever I visit them…" That along with Charlotte's smiled warranted laughter.

"So, I guess I'll make some breakfast?"

"Actually, it's noon." Lynette added.

 _Oh crap_

"Well, I'll make you four some lunch, my Squad already ate." Charlotte got up and walked to the kitchen, with the others following suit.

Charlotte made them potato salad for lunch. Shone and Charlotte had an odd smile shared between the two of them when she finished, with the five digging in. Sakamoto was the first done, of course. Then Shone and Charlotte, then Lynette. Yoshika was taking her time. "Do you not like it?"

"No, Charlotte, It's great! May be the best I've ever had…" _Out of the three I've eaten_ "I… Honestly don't want to train today…" Yoshika just realized what she said and who she said it too. _Sakamoto s going to kill me for even suggesting that, isnt she?_ Yoshika thought as she got a mouth full of salad.

Sakamoto let out a hearty laugh. "Sure."

 _What?_

"Taking a day off from training won't hurt us. That said, tomorrow we're both training a bit harder to make up for it. Deal?"

"Deal!" Everyone said in tandem - including Charlotte for some reason.

Charlotte stood up. "I recommend they spend some time in the golden room!"

"Golden room? Yoshika and Lynette asked.

"Yeah, that's a special area for baths. It also serves as a relaxation for our team." Charlotte's energy was rather infectious. "Now, the gold room is for girls. The silver room is for men."

"Shone?" Yoshika asked

"Yep"

"Didn't you almost become a stain on Sakamoto's blade because you walked in on her taking a bath?"

"That was an accident and you know it!" Shone yelled in response. "She didn't even have her blade…" Shone murmured. Sakamoto, surprisingly, maintained a mellow smile through the ordeal. "Anyway, I think I'll go myself."

After that little discussion and to which Sakamoto asked Shone to go with her to somewhere, High pitched screams could be heard echoing throughout the entire base. Which reminded everyone just how brutal Sakamoto could be if she was pissed off.

After the screams subsided Yoshika and Lynette decided to do one more job before heading to the bath house - cleaning up after lunch - then a short while later the two of them headed off to the bath house meeting up with a bruised and battered Shone along the way. Yoshika used her medical magic to heal as much of his face as possible. "Thanks." He smiled, and then the three walked off.

Yoshika, Lynette, and a seeming unharmed Shone arrived at the bath house. "How many houses are actually here? Sakamoto only showed me five."

"This makes how many?"

"Six…"

"Well, I think every just rounds this one with the base since it's so close, so she probably forgot."

"Probably." Yoshika and Lynette just walked to the Gold side, with Shone going into the Silver side.

"See you two later."

"Okay." The two said, getting into the room. As they walked into the room, Perrine and Francesca walked out, seeming to actually be having a civilized conversation. _I wouldn't of guessed her to be the kind for casual conversation._ Even Perrine was rather mellow, though not even giving so much of a glance.

Francesca, realizing the two girls were going to the baths, attempted to 180 and join them - causing Perrine to grab her and stop her. " _Oookay_ , you don't need another bath, nor another chance to be a pervert."

"Aw, you're no fun." And the two left the house.

Yoshika and Lynette were quite surprised to find how large the bath itself was. Both kind of figured it would have many individual baths, not one giant one. And it lived up to its name: the room was a golden colour, which made the water have a golden glow to it, and the steam was already getting them relaxed. They immediately tensed right back up at a realization.

They both forgot their bathing suits.

Oddly enough, Lynette was the one to speak up. "Yoshika, you can get… ***Gulp*** get undressed first. Iwon'tlookIpromise!" Lynettes face is a deep shade of red.

"o..okay" Yoshika replied

As Yoshika had finished undressing and left to head to the bath, Lynette decided to do the same however as she finished a voice could be heard from outside the changing room.

"Lynnette are you finished yet?" Yoshika said

At this point Lynette blushed and increased her pace and then started to run towards Yoshika.

"Ah there you are Lyn….Lynette!?" Yoshika shouted startled as she quickly got out of the way.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" ***splash*** is all that could be heard as Lynette crash landed next to Yoshika.

"Are you girls okay in there?" Shone's faint shout echoed from the men's bath

"We're fine" Lynette yelled, putting herself in a seated position whilst rubbing a lump on her head from where she hit the bottom of the bath.

"Okay, if you say so" Shone replied. Shone then sat backwards in the Silver room. "Sure is great to have a bath all to yourself…"

Yoshika meanwhile sweatdropped at little and then swam over to Lynette and put her magic to work sorting out the offending lump.

"Thanks, Yoshika." She smiled, hugging Yoshika. Being nice, Yoshika returned the hug. However, she made the mistake of looking down and noticing Lynette's chest. She immediately shot up, tightening the hug and looking up with a straight face. _Don't react. Don't react. Don't react. Don't react. Don't react. Don't react._

"You're really okay with being here with me?" Lynette said, without moving.

"Chest" _Damn it_

"Huh?"

"Yes, thank you."

With that, the two were able to calm down, sit back, and relax. After about 10 minutes, conversation just naturally happened.

"So, Lynette, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You've been here for a few months, but last week was your first week of training." Lynette looked down. "What exactly were you doing in that time."

"I…" Lynette blushed, causing Yoshika to place her hand on Lynette's shoulder for reassurance. "Well, I needed to get some other things in order before I could train…" Yoshika sat back and let Lynette tell her story.

"It all started when I was recruited…

"So, let us welcome Lynette Bishop into the 501st Division!" The room was filled with clapping. "Now, you'll be placed into Sakamoto's Squad, since they only have two members. Is that okay?" The mono-expressive Lynette merely nodded and followed the girl with the eye patch.

"So, Lynette, is it?" The light-haired girl nodded. "Well, I'm Mio Sakamoto, you're active combat officer remember?" Lynette merely nodded… again. "We're going to head to the condo, which'll serve as your home for the time being." Once again, Lynette just nodded.

As the two walked there, Lynette noticed some of the other witches there, but she didn't stop to speak with any of them. _You're the new one, Lynette, remember that. Don't do anything to screw-up already._ Not looking where she's walking, she runs into Sakamoto, causing them both to fall over. _Damn it._

 ***sign*** "Just try to watch where you're going, okay?" Lynette, a little sad, got up; The two were able to make it to the condo without any further incident at least. Sakamoto brought her to a surprisingly large room.

"Kind of big for one, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's the last room we have." Sakamoto said.

"OH, I'm not trying to complain!" Lynette was able breathe a bit easier with Sakamoto's smile as her response.

In the following days, however, Sakamoto then proved to Lynette that she was the Squad Officer for a reason: _This woman won't let up! There isn't an hour of the day without a chore attached to it! Hell, I'm surprised she doesn't wake me up at 6 am to simply clean the kitchen sink._ Lynette sweated to herself a bit. _Not that that would be so bad… we never have anything beyond basic food to eat._ Lynette wasn't one to voice these opinions, however. _Just bite your tongue, Lynette. You know what happens when you speak out…_ Flashbacks to Lynette's childhood struck her for a moment, causing her to shudder.

"So, Sakamoto worked you down as well?" Lynette's nodding head in response caused Yoshika to pause for a moment. _So, that explains a few things…_ "By the way, did you meet Shone at all during that time?"

" _Well_ -" Lynette said, blushing "-a few days later, I had to…"

"... carry these glasses into the condo, and put them into the kitchen. you can do that, right?" Sakamoto asked, pointing to a very large stack of glassware.

"Yeah, I think so." Lynette, grabbing all of them at once.

"Uh, are you sure you can handle all of that?"

"Yeaah!" Lynette said, trying _not_ to fall over. _Why do we need this many cups to drink out of? there's only me, Sakamoto, and whoever this Shone person is suppose to be._ Lynette was able to navigate through the hallway. However, getting them into the kitchen proved to be difficult without-

 ***Crash***

One of them falling over. That got Sakamoto to run in and check it out. "Great." She deadpanned, looking disappointed at Lynette. "You said you could handle it." Lynette hide her face behind the glasses to hide a few select tears. _Damnit-Damnit-Damnit-Damnit!_

"Come on, Sakamoto, lay off the poor girl." The two turned to see Shone enter the kitchen. "You're seriously going to get on her case for knock one glass over?"

"Shone,"

 _So, this guy's Shone? Shone's a guy?_

"I don't need a lesson in-"

"I'd say otherwise." Shone had a very large, unusually large grin on his face. "You see, Sakamoto, Lynette dropped one of what would seem to be one-two-three-four… twenty glasses. Now…" Shone placed his hand on the top half of the glasses.

Sakamoto's eye widened, with her eyes speaking her mind. _You better not…_

"Had Lynette done THIS-" Shone pushed his hand forward, causing nine more glasses for fall over and shatter. "then I could see you getting angry." Shone and Lynette looked over to see Sakamoto having a deadly aura around her.

" _ **Shone. Why. Did. You. DO THAT**_ _!?"_

Shone merely smiled, and turned to a closet to get something. "I suppose you want me to clean this mess."

Sakamoto, trying not to lose what was left of her cool, turns around. "Fine. Getclean this up. I'm going to go talk to Minna in the meantime." And with that, a sulking Sakamoto left.

Lynette turned to Shone, who has pulled out a broom and dustpan. "Is… She going to report you?"

"Don't worry, Minna likely won't mind." Shone bent down beside Lynette and started to carefully pick up shards of glass. "Beside, Sakamoto just likes being around Minna. Good friends, ya know?" Lynette, legitimately smiling, offered to help, but Shone declined - namely because he was already done. "Look, don't worry too much, Sakamoto is just a bit uptight, and she's used to only having to deal with me." Lynette breathed a bit easier hearing that. "She's nice when she learns to calm down." Shone smiled a bit. "Anyway, if you need any help around here, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"So Shone helped you out, too?"

"Yeah, showed me around the base and everything - except for here - Erica showed me this place" Lynette actually let out a light chuckle.

After that they spent a little while longer in the bath before getting out (as apparently the tubs have been known to overheat), they got changed and decided to head back to their room to stay in until dinner time.

"Say Lynette?"

"hmm?"

"Has Shone helped you out more than the time with the glasses?"

It took a little time for Lynette to respond but she finally responded… "Well there was this one other time he helped me with something."

"Oh… what was it?"

"Well… promise me you won't laugh?"

"Okay, I promise."

 _Here it comes_ Lynette thought to herself "It was swimming" but surprising her Yoshika did not laugh. In fact, Yoshika told Lynette that she didn't learn to swim until she began high school.

Then Lynette cleared her throat "Can I tell my story now?" Yoshika nodded. "Alright it started roughly 2 weeks ago with Emergency Landing water training…"

"Alright Charlotte that was a good run go and rest now." Sakamoto shouted with Charlotte fist pumping in response, meanwhile Lynette was sitting on the beach nearby having failed her run miserably with Sakamoto comparing her to a drowning cat.

She was about to get up and go and get changed when Shone sat beside her. "Bombed another one huh Lynette?" All she could do was stay silent in response. "Are you really not that good in the water Lynette?" he asked her.

After a few moments she blurted out "I'm a hammer!"

"So you can't swim huh?" All she could do this time was nod.

"Alright" Shone jumped up "Sakamoto I'm taking Lynette for a bit of training."

"Okay, if you think you can do better - be back in time for dinner" she responded.

"Roger" and with that he grabbed her wrist and dragged her somewhere. After a while they stopped and it took her a few moments to catch her breath before looking around and seeing that Shone had taken her to a secluded part of the beach…...

"Oh did anything happen?" Yoshika asked starry eyed

 _Ughhhhhh…._ Lynette thought to herself as she continued her story

"Pretty nice place, huh?" she looked up at Shone "Now you can practice swimming without embarrassing yourself" Her face turned a bright red.

 _I'm already embarrassed._

Shone hopped into the water "And don't worry. I'll be right there beside you in case anything goes wrong. now get in here and show me what you can do."

It took me a few minutes but she finally went into the water and tried to make her way over to Shone but she ended up looking like a drowning nimal once more. But after a few tries and with some help from Shone I managed to stabilize myself in the water. "Okay it looks like we'll have to start with the basics… first off let's teach you how to float."

He instructed in the simplest way possible and It didn't take her too long to float properly…

 _Yeah….. I bet you'd float just fine…._ Yoshika thought, her perverse mind starting to wander around once more.

"Yoshika are okay?" Lynette asked

"I….I'm fine" _Crap. I need to get this under control._ "you can continue."

"O-okay"

"Good, good Lynette you're learning faster than I thought" She was _really_ happy when he said that "Okay time to start proper swimming… grab onto my wrists lean forward and start kicking towards me" Once again she listened to what he said, but "Easier said than done" was in full effect here. After a few failures, she finally found her rhythm and started to get the hang of swimming properly.

But all of a sudden Shone let go of her with panicking following suit, but Lynette was able to calm herself down and started kicking again, remembering what Shone had taught her. Even though it took her a few minutes she was finally able to swim on her own. By this time Shone had gone on to the shore and was watching her swim. She couldn't see him smiling.

"Wow! So you were able to learn how to swim in one day?" Yoshika smiled.

"Yeah… I guess I was…" _I never thought about that… but I did!_

"Well, I'm glad you were able to learn all of that, Lynette!" Yoshika smiled.

"Thanks for listening." Lynette murmured out. "It… means a lot to me."

Yoshika picked up on that, but before she could say/do anything, there was a knock on the door. "You two hungry?" The two witches nodded. "Okay, cause Shone and I are." Sakamoto opened the door and waved her hand, signalling for the two to follow.

"So, I would like to ask how prepared you girls feel."

"Huh?" Yoshika and Lynette asked in unison.

"Do you two feel a bit more comfortable with your magic?" The two nodded.

 _Is that just their default answer?_ "Well, if you two feel better about it, I'll lay off."

"Huh?"

 _Good Lord…_ "I'm going to trust you girls to train on your own time for a little while and see where it goes."

The two girls grabbed each other with starry eyes, happy at the news… only to knock their meals over. "Also, you're both cleaning that up." Shone hardly reacted to any of this.

And so, the two girls went to clean up their mess, made themselves a little more to eat, and seated themselves. Lynette leaned over to Yoshika and whispered "Don't feel bad about knocking our first meals over - the floor probably made Sakamoto's food taste better." Yoshika couldn't resist giggling at Lynette's jab.

"Did you say something Lynette?"

"I… I told Yoshika that knocking out meals over isn't worth losing any sleep over."

"Oh." Sakamoto replied. "Well… you're right, it's not."

They woke up the next morning early out of habit. So, with nothing to do, they decided to walk around the base.

After a few hours a bell's toll could be heard resounding around the base. Lynette froze in place. "Lynette, do you know what that means?"

Before she could answer a huge explosion rocked the entire island causing everyone to grab onto something to keep themselves stable, the two of them looked up into the sky and saw a black mass zoom overhead.

Lynette muttered something in fear. As faint as it was, and as loud as the bell was, Yoshika still made out what she said.

"Neuroi…"

 **Okay. This one didn't take four months to re-edit. That's good. Here's the ID Card of the Chapter:**

 **Name** : Lynette Bishop

 **Nickname** : Little Lyn (Coined and used by Wilma Bishop)

 **Age** : 16

 **Birthplace** : Britannia

 **Affiliation** : 501st Joint Fighter Wing

 **Status** : Soilder

 **Magic** : Water Magic

 **Weapon(s)** : Hunting Crossbow, Metal Kanabo

 **Likes** : Grain-filled foods.

 **Dislikes** : Heavy Lifting

 **Notes** : Lynette comes from a family of many witches, and is the middle sibling in a large family of nine kids. As such, she suffer from being over-looked (borderline neglected at time) and being rather introvert. However, a caring personality does reside in her. Being one of the less physically fit witches, she wields a fairly lightweight crossbow. She also has a metal Kanado in her possession (acquired from her travels with the Britannian Air Force), but she has yet to use it in combat. Her decision to join Strike Witches was finalized after her hometown suffered a horrendous attack from the Neuroi Air Fleet. She was placed in the 501st by Wilma's request.


	9. Chapter 9: On the Offensive

**Chapter 9: On the Offensive**

The 501st met up inside the main office room of the base (Same room where Lynette and Yoshika were accepted officially) with Minna there. "Okay, we have Sakamoto out there analyzing what we're up against. But for now, I need status reports from all three squads!" Minna yelled, being more in-line with a military leader, now.

"Squad Sakamoto is all here!" Shone said, with Lynette and Yoshika waving to show that they were in-fact there.

"My squad is almost ready. Perrine is just getting her gear" Charlotte said, being slightly more serious than usual. _Slightly._

"Sanya and Eila are both asleep."

"And I'm here with Gertrud!" Erica said from behind.

It was only a few minutes later that everyone met up with Sakamoto being the last to arrive due to her reconnaissance on the enemy units.

"What are we dealing with Sakamoto?" Minna asked with a serious expression.

"It's gonna be a tricky one, there are 2 type 8 high speed units, 1 type 12 dropship unit - and here's the kicker - that new unit that showed up 2 months ago has made it's way here".

Everyone became shocked, especially Yoshika and Lynette who have yet to learn all the basic Neuroi units, but to hear about a new type so soon kind of made the two of them shudder in fear.

"You mean the type 10…. the missile mothership!" Minna said in shock

The room went deathly silent; a reasonable reaction given they had not dealt with a Neuroi of this type before. This along with the fact that there are so few reports on it, and to say that they were worried about it was an understatement.

"Alright that's enough" Sakamoto said which got everyone's attention directed at her "Just because a new type of Neuroi has shown up doesn't mean that it will prevent us from doing what we do best, we're Strike Witches for god's sake! We shoot down neuroi all the time what's one new model gonna stop us from doing our duty!"

Hearing Sakamoto's words helped boost the morale of the witches (that were present) and got them really fired up; Yoshika and Lynette both now feeling up for the task at hand. "That's the spirit, now load up we'll need to be up there ASAP!"

But just as the witches were about to leave a bunch of explosions occurred outside of the base and when they looked…..

"Shit… the bastards blew up the runway now we can't launch" Shone said punching a hole in the wall, riling everyone up even more.

"We have no choice then" everyone turned to Sakamoto once again. "We'll have to use the catapult system if we're gonna have a chance of defeating the Neuroi" the others nodded but Minna spoke up

" _ **That**_ thing? We bought that because Maloney didn't give us enough money for turrets! How can we-"

"What choice do we have Minna? Either we use the catapults, or this place burns in hell!"

With those words Minna saw a strong sense of dedication in Sakamoto's eye - one to match her voice. "Okay, if you feel that way." Minna, showing _some_ confidence in the situation, got up and looked at the squads. "Charlotte, you and your squad will deal with any ground units. Take no chances, got it?"

"Yes Ma'am!" The present members of her squad yelled.

"Gertrud, you and Erica are to take down that Drop Ship. Do what ever need to." The two witches nodded, being able to take off without the runway. "Sakamoto, you're to analyze the Type 10 and whatever you can to slow it down."

"What about the rest of my squad?"

"They're going to use the catapult." Minna turned to the other three. "Shone, you'll light up the catapult ammo. Lynette and Yoshika need to work together to arm and aim it. Can you three do that?"

"One problem." Shone said. "I'm not sure that there's ammunition for the catapult that can go that high and still damage them - Unless we put some scraped planes into the catapult."

"Damn it. Now what can we-"

"We'll find a way." Yoshika spoke up. Minna looked over as the outside got dark. Lynette soon gave her back up.

"We're the Elite Witches, right? We're not the kind to give in like that. We'll figure out how to make use of the Catapult."

Minna, while a bit unnerved, breathed steadily, and actually went back to her sweet tone. "If you have a plan, go for it!" She turned to the squad, remaining calm. "Look, I'll stay here to look after Sanya and Eila incase any Neuroi sneak past Charlotte's Squad. Any more questions?" No one objected.

"Okay, Elite Witches, DEPLOY!" And with the squads deployed to their posts.

And not a moment too soon, as The Neuroi dropship was already overhead, preparing to drop troops. Perrine showed up wearing her Striker Unit, armed with her carbine. "Charlotte, what did I miss?"

"Neuroi Invasion. We got ground duty once more. Gertrud and Erica will handle the dropship, the other ship is Sakamoto's job."

Perrine nodded, and decided to activate her magic ahead of time. The space around her lit up, and her hair and skin turned a strong tint of Silver. "My second grade armor should be enough. I'll upgrade it later if I need to." She checked her carbine for ammo, and her reserves. "Okay, Charlotte, I'm ready. I'll cover you from up here."

Gertrud and Erica stood on top of their of their condo. "Ready when Sakamoto is."

"I hear you." Minna said, talking into the radio. "I'll cover Sanya and Eila."

"Actually" A calm voice said. "We'll be covering you." Minna turned around to find the 'Silver Sisters' Sanya and Eila behind her, armed and ready.

"What are you-"

"We heard the alarm." Sayna said "And you shouldn't have to defend our home alone." With that, Minna's smiled returned at last, and she looked out. "Okay, Sakamoto, your squad's all that's left."

"Okay." Sakamoto said. "I'll join Gertrud and Erica once I can figure out how that thing is."

"You better hurry, It looks like all hell's gonna break loose any minute"

"Understood." Sakamoto then looked over to the others.

"Sakamoto." Yoshika spoke up. "Just let us know when you find the core. We'll deal with the rest."

She looked down at her newest recruit. "You better know what you're doing." And with that, Sakamoto ran off.

"You _do_ know what you're doing, right?" Shone asked.

"Yeah. Once Sakamoto finds the core, the three of us take to the skies. You'll light up and fire some flares from here, creating some holes for us whilst we'll get out of the way. which will leave an opening for us to finish it off."

"That just might work." Lynette said, hopeful. The three activated their Striker Units and headed outside

That would signal the Neuroi ground Soldiers to land and start the attack.

"Minna." Sakamoto turned to see Eila. "I don't need to predict the future to know we'll be fine."

"Yeah," Sanya said, opening the window as Sakamoto left. "but just to be safe…" She fired three rockets at the Neuroi Dropship.

"You Know it'll just regenerate, right?"

"Yeah, but they move slower when they do so, that'll give Sakamoto some time to get by without be shot at."

Minna smiled, and looked outside. She took some comfort to find Charlotte's squad was handling the situation just fine, with Gertrud and Erica waiting by the ocean. _Smart girls, they're waiting for the ship to retreat from the island before shooting it down._

Sakamoto wasn't have much luck with the Type 10. It's missiles were actually quite easy to dodge, and they went off in mid-air before reaching the base. But using her magic eye to no avail, Sakamoto curse herself. _Damn it, where's the core!"_ She looked over and over, not seeing anything. And, to make matters worse, the ship was now working on using its laser cannon instead of missiles - much harder to dodge. _I'll need to shield from this-_

Her train of thought was stopped by a sudden barrage of laser blasts. Sakamoto quickly did what all she could - shielding, basically - to save herself. Of course, even the strongest shields start to crack with enough force.

 _Aw, crap…_

Sakamoto's shield shattered into pieces, sending her flying backwards. Sakamoto tried to get a second wind, but she felt her consciousness begin to fade. Not helping was a small explosion sound effect. She turned her head to see black smoke emitting from her Strike Unit. The ship was now firing bigger laser blasts, getting closer and closer. Sakamoto was able to shield from a direct shot, but _that_ shattered as well, and this one caused her to start falling.

"Oh God…" Shone said, looking out. Without skipping a beat, Lynette threw everything - Striker Unit excluded - down. "I'll get Sakamoto, You two deal with the Neuroi Ship!" And with that, Lynette started to skin over the water. _If worse comes to worse, I can drop my Striker Unit and carry her back over the water. I AM a water witch. I can do it…_ Lynette was able to get Sakamoto in _just_ as she got close to the water. However, while Lynette was able to catch her, she didn't account for trying to carry a 20-year-old woman and was basically stuck in place - trying to hold the witch without dropping her. "Damn it. I don't think I'm going to ***groan*** be able to fly her back" Lynette looked at Sakamoto's now unconscious face. _Please be okay, Sakamoto. PLEASE!_

"Well, Yoshika, got a plan B?" Shone looked to see Yoshika on the ground, distraught. "Yoshika?"

Yoshika was busy in her memories, trying to match them up with reality. _No… This is Sakamoto… She's too strong to be shot down. She could just be… she's… she's… Sakamoto… I…_

"YOSHIKA!" Yoshika snapped out of her thoughts, and found Shone looking at her. "Pull Yourself together! You need to have faith in Sakamoto and Lynette. If she's seriously hurt, you can help her after the battle." He pointed towards the Type 10 ship. "But there **won't be** an "afterwards" if we die!" Both magic users turned towards the monster-sized ship. "Now… what are we going to do about that damn thing?"

"Okay… I think I've got it." Yoshika looked at a surprised Shone. "You can fly, right?"

"Yeah." _She's already got a plan B?_

"Then you're going to launch us with the catapult."

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"It's the only way we can reach the Neuroi Ship in time before it's in range of the base." Yoshika also looked out to the ship. "Now, in the air, you'll need to fire a flare into the ship. That'll create a hole."

"Yeah, but it'll just recover from that."

"Yeah, but not fast enough to stop me from getting in there." Shone had a horrified look. "Shone, that core needs to be destroyed, and we both understand that there's no faster option."

Shone, while not on board, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, time is the enemy now."

Shone, getting a bit nervous, pulled the catapult down. The thrusted his sword into the ground, and tied the rope to it's handle. Hearing an explosion, he turned around and, to his delight, saw the Drop Ship taking some severe damage, having just left the base's grounds.

Now having a bit more confidence, he jumped in, an armed his flare. "Yoshika, you ready?"

Yoshika jumped in beside him, and put her flight goggles on. "I'm ready." And with that, Shone fired his flare at the rope. The two went flying through the air.

 _Stay focused. Stay Focused. Stay Focused.._ Yoshika thought to herself. Once she and Shone both began to start falling a bit, she yelled "NOW!" And with that, the two fully activated their Strike Units and sored through the air.

"Hey, Yoshika, look down…" Doing as he asked, she saw Lynette carrying Sakamoto [slowly] across the ocean, back to the shore.

"Hey, Shone?"

"Yoshika. Don't worry. I will" Shone smiled at Yoshika, which she returned.

"Okay… I'm ready." Yoshika said, signaling Shone to fire. With the loud flare going to, Yoshika made her way into the hole Shone melted into the ship before it managed to shut.

 _Took a lot of magic to make a hole that big. Hope Yoshika knows what she's doing._ Shone made a nose dive to reach Lynette. "Lynette!" Shone yelled, reaching in rather quickly. "I'll take Sakamoto. You wait here for a bit to help Yoshika."

"Where is she?"

"Somewhere inside that thing." Shone said, taking Sakamoto off of Lynette's hands.

 _You better be Okay, Yoshika._

"Wow, this is weird." Yoshika walked around the inside of the ship. Oddly enough, it would seem the ship was designed for humans, or the humanoid Neuroi at least, to walk around. "But reports show this ship can think for itself. I half to wonder why it would need-"

The answer literally formed in front of her - 5 Type 2 Neuroi. "01001001 01101110 01110100 01110010 01110101 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100001" The machine-like alien said it so fast it was almost impossible to hear the numbers it was saying.

With the unsettling knowledge that she very well may be walking on a Neuroi factory, Yoshika instinctively ran right past them, knowing she didn't have time to fight. _Need to find the core. Need to find the core. Need to find the core._

Lynette was waiting outside the ship. She notice the ship itself has slowed down a bit. _It's been getting slower… But it can't be in range just yet._

"Minna, This is Jane Thach of the 508th. We've detected a Type 10 in your-"

"WE KNOW, JANE!" Minna took a deep breathe after being told to do so. "Look, do you have any information on it?"

"Yes, I recommend using Sakamoto to scan the whole ship."

"We did. I've... lost contact with her. That said, the ship has nearly stopped."

"Okay, that's good. It might mean Sakamoto has gotten into the ship. If she encounters any troops in there, she should just ignore them. They're smarter than the average model. If you want to help, send some people to fire on the outside. Neuroi move more slowly when recovering."

"She already knows that, Jane."

"Minna!" Sayna said. "We'll join Gertrud and Erica in the sky."

Minna nodded, not sure what else to do. When the two girls ran out, Shone ran in, carrying Sakamoto.

"OH GOD! SAKAMOTO!"

"Don't worry, she's alive. I think she's just out of magic. She needs rest." Minna had trouble grasping that concept for some time.

"Minna?" The Radio said. "Minna? Are you there?"

Shone picked up the radio communicator. "This is Shone. Minna is.. um… looking after Sakamoto."

"Sakamoto isn't in the Neuroi?"

"No, Yoshika is." Shone said. "Anything she can do?"

There wasn't any immediate answer, thought Jane _did_ respond. "If she can find the core, then she should be able to stop it."

Shone looked outside to see Charlotte's squad finishing off the ground units.

Lynette heard some Striker Units coming towards her. "Gertrud… Erica… Eila, and Sanya." Lynette continued to float. She _wants_ to help them, but she left her weapons by the shore, and she's _not_ going to leave Yoshika in there.

Yoshika continued to run through the ship, with more and more Neuroi troops following her. _I'm up to 25 following me!_ She also notice these troops were firing more often, and were getting more accurate. _I'm starting to wish I brought some kind of bomb with me…_ Yoshika, getting desperate, jumped off the side of the railing and activated her Striker Unit. _Duh! Why didn't I just do this from the start?_ taking another left, then a few rights, actually managed to find the core!

 _This is huge! It's bigger than any Ground Troop I've seen._ Yoshika managed to get down and get close to it. She picked up her machine pistol. "I doubt this will do so." She then put it up, and then pulled out her sword. "If I can stab it enough, It'll fall apart: the core itself can't regenerate!" _I think._

However, the troops caught up with her. "01101011 01101001 01101100 01101100"

The ship, however, began to shake a bit.

 _It feels like missiles are being fired… did the ship make it to the island? I..._

A look outside would explain why: The ship wasn't firing missiles but taking them! Courtesy of Sayna, but Gertrud's Squad was giving the ship hell as well.. Gertrud never stopped firing her shots, Erica was attacking with electricity - damaging the systems inside. Elia fired what was left of her machine gun at it.

Yoshika decided to start flying upwards to get closer to the core. "Time to destroy." Yoshika smirked to herself, being able to connect the dots and figures out that the Neuroi stopped firing because of the other witches.

 _This is for all of you._ Yoshika then stabbed her sword into the Core over and over, until it exploded… sending Yoshika flying backwards.

"IT'S FALLING!" Erica yelled, happy. The others, while more subdued, were just as happy.

"Wait…" Lynette noticed something. "Yoshika… Yoshika?" Lynette looked at the ship, nervous. "I'm…" She shook her head, activated her Striker Unit and starting darting towards the falling ship. "I'm coming for you!"

Yoshika woke up, finding a Neuroi troop deactivated on top of her, with her sword implanted in it's back. Oh, she also notice the ship was falling. She was somehow able throw it off of her, after pulling her sword out. "How am I going to get out of here?" She started to just stab the floor, realizing just how weak a Neuroi is without it's core - it pierced the top layer quite easily. "I could just pull this thing apart!" And that actually worked! In fact, it worked a bit too well. As the very bottom of the ship fell apart, sending Yoshika falling, desperately trying to re-activate her Striker Unit. But with no luck.

 _Well, this sucks…_

Much to Yoshika's shock, she was soon grabbed by someone before being squished between some familiar not pillows. "YOSHIKA! YOU'RE ALIVE. OH THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Yeah…" She said, trying to keep herself under control. "I'm.. I'm okay."

"So, you ready to go back to the shore?"

" _I'm just fine here._ " Yoshika soon turned as red as Lynette was, realising she said that outloud.

"I think they're cute together." Erica said, looking in a distance. Gertrud's expression didn't seem to agree..

"Come on, Yoshika, let's get back to the base."

Yoshika, Lynette, and Gertrud's Squad had all returned to find everyone else watching Sakamoto laying on a bed, asleep, with Minna's hand over her, glowing white. "Minna! You know medic magic!"

"Not quite, this is Yang Magic. This is dealing with magic itself. I'm giving some to Sakamoto."

"Hey, Guys. Nice job out there. I heard you did some really good on your own." Sakamoto smiled, albeit weakly.

"She should be good by tomorrow. In the meantime, I want the rest of you to throw the neuroi parts into the ocean to deteriorate them. We can't risk them reviving." Everyone nodded. "After that, take the day off. Do as you please!" And so, the entire division left the room, leaving Sakamoto and Minna alone.

"I'm sorry, Minna."

"Sh, Sakamoto. It's not your fault. Things happen, okay?"

"But… a lot of these girls look up to me. I need to be someone for them to look up to."

"Then start by being smart and staying here." Minna smiled. "Besides, don't act like you don't enjoy my company."

Sakamoto gave out a weak laugh, "You're right." And with that, Sakamoto allowed Minna to tuck her into bed. "So, got any stories? You always seem to have some."

Minna smiled. "Maybe."

"Well, that's all of them!" Charlotte yelled. "I'm going to go take a bath."

"Wait for me!" Francesca yelled in pursuit.

"I need one too." Laura said, followed by Perrine repeating that.

Erica's stomach growled like a bulldog. "I'm going to cook up some hash browns, anyone want some?" The rest of her squad, and Shone, followed her. Charlotte would of as well if she hadn't been sweating so much.

"Well... " Lynette said. "Maybe we could make something to eat, too. I know some good fish-and-chips recipes."

"Only if you teach me." Yoshika smiled.

"Oh.. Okay!" And so the two walked back to the condo, both realizing something:

 _I'm going to be alone with her…_

 **I'm glad I've started writing this story again - I'm thinking I've re-found my love for writing! Anyway, let's see whose ID Card we get today.**

 **Name** : Shone Hosho

 **Nickname** : N/A

 **Age** : 19

 **Birthplace** : Fuso

 **Affiliation** : 501st Joint Fighter Wing

 **Status** : Soilder

 **Magic** : Fire Magic

 **Weapon(s)** : Flare Gun, Burning Broadsword

 **Likes** : Cook-outs, Swimming, Candles

 **Dislikes** : Talking about his sister

 **Notes** : Shone seems to fit surprisingly well into the 501st, being the only male magic user that's been accepted into the program - although he doesn't seem to keen on letting the "only male" part become public knowledge. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact of him getting into Strike Witches at all is a bit of a shady tale? Either way, the witches he seems to connect with the most are Lynette (whom he taught how to swim) and Charlotte (Whom he met before being recruited). Granted, he's pretty open to the JFW; to anyone outside the 501st JFW however, he becomes incredibly introverted.


End file.
